Jango POV

He was waiting. 3 drinks in and he was still waiting. The bar was basically barren, a waiter picking up glasses here a bartender cleaning a glass there. There was nothing to do and no one to talk too. What was he doing here? She contacted him and still made him wait?! If it was for a job he would have told her to shove it, he had, after all, just landed a very very lucrative job that would require full commitment with very little room for other jobs. That being said that didn't mean no room. But he digressed, she wanted him and he was here while she was not. Hell he didn't even want to be here and he certainly didn't want to talk to her so that begged the question, what brought him here? Curiosity!

'You need me!' That's all the message said. Well, that, her name, time and place for this meeting.

He finished what was left of his glass and made to stand, he was done waiting.

'I hear you just became a Drill Sergeant. I suppose congratulations are in order.' Well… he was right, he was done waiting.

'And where did you hear that?' He knew, of course, she had eyes and ears everywhere.

'Don't insult yourself. Or me, for that matter.' She sat down across from him and stared. He was to make the first move then?!

'You wanted me, well, I'm here.' The arrogant dismissal on her face was telling.

'You need me. Not the other way around. You can assist me and accelerate my timetable but you are not essential.' Her words grated. He was the best at what he did and he still wasn't good enough?! We'd see about that!

'And what exactly is it that I need you for? And, for that matter, what do you want from me?' Despite her arrogance he couldn't deny it was well warranted, he was the best at what he did but then, so was she, and she did more, a lot more.

'You are training soldiers! You need me to ensure they are the best they can be. As for what you can help me with, well it is something along the same vain. You are currently commissioned to help train some of the best soldiers in the galaxy. I want your help to create the best soldiers in the galaxy.' He sat back. Well she knew more about his next assignment then most but she was wrong, he was training the best, he was dammit. But if, by some miracle he wasn't, if… then what did he have left. This was his legacy, the greatest the galaxy had ever seen. His family name immortalised along with all his forebearers. And then maybe, just maybe, he would be worthy of the title his dear friend left for him to shoulder alone.

'And what exactly did you have in mind Dr. Halsey?' She smiled.

Jango POV

Well. It was ambitious. The training regime, the enhancements, the equipment. Hell, the equipment made him jealous and he bought the best money could buy. But, then again, money couldn't buy Halsey's genius. She only used her knowledge for a higher purpose. What, he didn't know, he just knew she was aiming for something higher than anything he could ever hope to grasp.

'I will admit this could all be used to create a soldier of unrivalled skill but who did you have in mind to use it.' He liked hyperspace. The dull whoosh of the stars as they passed combined with the lights and colours made it a very relaxing experience, especially 'cus no one could shoot him in hyperspace.

'Currently I have the candidates narrowed down to 150 but I only have enough credits to properly outfit 75. Here's the list.' She passed him a pad. He scrolled through the list, only really checking the names and not reading the descriptions, to see if there were any he recognised. There were none. Curious, while the names he knew weren't the most reputable, and certainly weren't people you would want near the type of hardware Halsey came up with, he should have recognised some. He knew the best on both sides of the law, after all, you need to know about potential enemies.

'I don't recognise any of them.' He held out the pad. She smirked, osik, wasn't that annoyingly condescending.

'Look again.' He did. This time he took more time looking at each of them. He paused. That couldn't be right. He looked at the next, and the next, and the next. Their age, all of them, 6. They were kids. Don't get him wrong his issue wasn't a moral one, his ship was named Slave 1 after all and it wasn't just because it could be used to transport alive targets.

'Don't you think people will noticed 75 missing kids from various rim worlds?' That smirk again. It always made him feel like it just missed the obvious. Admittedly, if he had read the list properly he would have been spared the smirk when he remarked about not knowing them but in this case he genuinely failed to see what he missed.

'Well,' She started, smirk never leaving her face, 'we are going to Kamino, are we not?!'

Jango POV

Lama Su was like a Womp Rat with the way he was bouncing when he met with Halsey.

'Dr. Catherine Halsey I must say, when Jango told me he had recruited you for help with our latest endeavour I could scarcely believe it. But with you here, in front of me, I know that together we can achieve far more than either could alone.' Well what do you know. Halsey could genuinely smile.

'Thank you President Su…' She started.

'Please, Lama.' Ancestors, I didn't realise he could be such a suck up.

'Lama, I thank you for this chance to realise some of my greatest work and for you accepting my conditions for working with you.' She had more than enough money to fund this venture so I suppose getting the Kaminoans help without having to pay for it was a massive boon. It also didn't carry a price tag, meaning she could get far more help than she otherwise would have had access to if she had to pay for everything. Clever.

'No thanks are necessary Dr. I understand the significance of your work and your help in ours is greatly appreciated.' She wanted Flash Clones. Full Flash Clones. Clones engineered to grow at the fastest rate possible. It was meant to create genetically engineered organs to help stabilise a patient until a true donor could be found. At least that's what they told him. The problem was that due to the extremely rapid grow of the cloned specimens they wouldn't live out the full, accelerated life cycle before they broke down and started to mutate which killed the organ, or in this case, subject. Halsey wanted to kidnap the kids by making it look like they weren't kidnapped but had died of natural causes. It was genius.

Hey, he was Mandalorian, they've burned planets and gassed species with neurotoxins that resulted in the species going so mad they lost true reason and became semi-sentient for the next few generations just to get their war droids. What did it matter anyway, the Basilisks were sentient now anyhow?

'There is one thing I am curious about Dr. Halsey. I too have read over the list of candidates you gave to Jango and I find myself wondering, well, why them? It was a highly specific list. If you are in need of 75 specimens then we can provide or, if they must be true born, then why not all from a single planet or, at the very least, system? Furthermore most of the 150 candidates are from Mandalorian territories. I find myself wondering if there is a more sentimental reason for your choices.' He meant revenge. Halsey was Brilliant, with a capital B, but she did have a habit of pissing people off. This wasn't more evident than on Halsey Homeworld, Concord Dawn. Funny, for a clan like the Hardeen who gave birth to the greatest Mandalorian Marksmen to have spawned someone like Halsey, who was as far away from a true Mandalorian as you could get while still being called a Mandalorian. During Halsey's earlier years she made waves by all but outright stating that the Mandalorian as they were today were far from the level they should be at. It wouldn't have been so bad if she was an above average warrior but she spent more time working on being the smartest that she never took the time to be the best. This coupled with her remarks made her unpopular but her intelligence bought her grudging respect from all the clans of Mandalore, not just the ones on Concord Dawn. That smirk was back.

'I understand your reasoning but I can assure you Lama that my decision was purely scientific. These candidates were chosen not for who they are but what they are.' That made me sit up in my chair, if this weird, floaty spoon thing could be called a chair that is. I suppose it should but at the risk of being called old fashioned, I was of the opinion that chairs had to be connected to the ground not the ceiling. Lama Su just looked confused and it showed.

'Allow me to explain. After extensive research in my younger years on my first Doctorate in Biology I came to the conclusion that Biology has just as much a say in those who excel as training does.' The hell?!

'After extensive testing and study I have found that there is a specific gene, a single one, that is present within those who excel, far and away more frequently, who are the best in their field of expertise than those who aren't.' That wasn't anything new. Selective genetic breeding has always been a thing to ensure certain desirable traits lived on. This basically proved that certain genes could be breed to achieve a desired result.

'I understand that certain abilities can be enhanced with the right genes Dr. but do you really…' Apparently we didn't understand well enough for the good doctors liking as she interrupted.

'You misunderstand me President Su. I don't mean certain gene markers that can enhance physical traits but a single gene marker that is responsible for a greater potential across the board. Greater physical and mental abilities. This gene does not, however, guarantee better abilities though just that it will be much easy and far more natural for these individuals with the gene marker to grasp tasks no matter their complexity and allows for less time needed to allow these individuals to reach the same level as others. This will greatly improve their abilities over their peers even with the same time spent under the same teacher.' Well. That was enlightening. A gene that could make anyone a natural genius at anything, if I understood this right. Within the same 10 year time frame that is used to train my clones on how to be soldiers Halsey could train her soldiers to be far better. No wonder she thought her program would produce better soldiers even without Halsey's own improvements, like her augmentations and equipment. She had the key to accelerate training and conditioning and she wanted to use that key to unlock the potential to the greatest warriors the galaxy had ever seen. It hit me. Halsey was 15 when she earned her second doctorate in Droid Engineering and AI Interface but her first was in Biology. The reason for her thoughts on where exactly the Mandalorian people should be were because she already knew about the gene. How long had she been planning this? And why the Mandalorians? Luckily I didn't have to wait long.

'What do you know of the Jedi President?' Apparently she forgot to call him Lama, I nearly snorted, she didn't forget she just didn't need pleasantries anymore, she had him hooked, me too actually.

'I'm afraid I don't understand?' That made two of us but I suspected out of the two I understood less.

'The ratio of human to non-humans within the Jedi order wouldn't bring up any questions normally. But when you compare the ratio of humans to non-humans throughout the galaxy you find we vastly outnumber all other species but our numbers within the Jedi order fail to reflect that. On the other hand, our numbers within the Mandalorian clans, who accept the best of any race, far exceeds the galactic average. The question is why? And the answer, this, specific, gene!' Thinking about it, she was right. Not only was humanity the widest spread species with the highest population count, we dominated in numbers within the Mandalorian culture. Not to mention the original race that made up the Mandalorians, the Taung, lost their Homeworld, Coruscant, to humanity to. How could a race as physically and technologically inferior to the true Mandalorian Race possibly have won? Halsey's theory answered so much that I failed to even question. I guess that's why she's the genius and I'm the merc. She continued.

'These 150 children have been selected because they all have the gene and are the most likely candidates to pass on the gene to the next generation. As for why most of the gene comes from Mandalorian children, well, it's because Mandalore only takes the best and, while not impossible for others to reach the same level, the best from each race are those who are most likely to have the gene. And I believe that the gene is responsible for humanity's prosperity even at the expense of the ability to wield the Force. The gene is not, however, exclusive to humanity, of course, but the gene is fairly elusive even in humans, the chance of finding it in other species would be extremely low.' Well that explained the fact that all of the candidates were human and why there were so few potentials even if she could only make 75 of these soldiers. Lama Su apparently still had questions.

'While this is very fascinating I find myself wondering, ifthis gene exists then why have we and the galaxy at large failed to identify it?' A valid question. The galaxy as a whole may be constantly shifting and knowledge lost all of the time but something like this would have made waves. Especially in the cloning community, that the Kaminoans dominate.

'I first started looking for answers into the odd ratios of human to non humans within both the galaxy at large and the Mandalorian people. This search for a scientific reason for such a phenomenon eventually lead me to finding this gene. It was thankfully down to the fact that I was within Mandalorian Sector that I made this discovery as it meant there were enough results of the gene working to form my basic thesis before further in depth study to determine the validity of the theory. Your pool of candidates for genetic cloning is so wide you would have had to analyse each gene individually over a vast array of subject and even then you are not guaranteed to have found any link between this gene and overall subject performance. Quite simply President, you didn't know where to look.'

Jango POV

The project went ahead quickly after that. As the first batch of 200,000 clones were being prepared Halsey and I went to each of the 150 to meet them personally so Halsey could hand pick her 75. I remember meeting the kids. I could see it now. Knowing the gene was inside of them I could see, these stood above their peers, even now, at 6. What would they be like in the future? One stood out in particular. It was a young boy on Concordia of the Vizsla House. His name was Shev'la, Silent, it suited him. It wasn't an unnatural quiet but more like he was analysing everything, every situation, and deciding what action to take. The boy looked to be a high risk, high reward kind of person. Huh, my kind of kid. Although you need an insane amount of luck to ever have any good returns on that type of strategy but the kid didn't look to perturbed by this. Halsey did her usual coin toss trick to test the reflexes. He surprised me, he snatched it. Caught the coin mid air before I even saw it. Halseys face said it all. This boy was her favourite by far and it showed when she asked him another question that she hadn't asked the others.

'Shev'la, how many people live in your clan?' Huh. Not many trained professionals could accurately count how many people they lived with when they lived in numbers this big. It was a sign of true awareness and alertness to know the exact number so you would always know when someone was added or someone went missing. It was a skill that was present in only the best like myself. But, as said before, the boy surprised me.

'117.' Halsey's grin just grew.

Jango POV

We had one more stop to make after we saw all 150 kids. It was to Mandalore, actually. To see a Mando named Jacob. He was a sullen fellow who looked as if he had a small weight that he could never quite shift. We went to his house within Kryze territory, I wasn't sure if he was a member of the House or of one of its Clans. Halsey and Jacob both sat at the table while I leant against the wall while looking around the modest but cosy home. It was a quaint little place that wasn't really standout in any way, just another Mando home on Mandalore I suppose. Movement out of the corner of my eye drew my gaze to one of the bedroom doors that had just slid open before a curious little head of blue hair popped out with an equally blue pair of eyes and lips attached to a curious head followed it. The girl was a cute little thing with wide, inquisitive eyes that seemed to analyse everything, sort of like Shev'la. Only, instead of using the information to assess a situation like a good soldier she dissected everything new she could see, specifically me, like a talented scientist. If Halsey was planning on recruiting her I would have to say otherwise. The girl was obviously smart, like Halsey level smart, but that was the problem. Halsey was the greatest mind of her age but she was no soldier and neither was this girl.

Surprisingly another head rounded the corner too. This one much like her sister, for the two could only be sisters, had matching eyes and hair, only this one was brown. Curious, but I suppose the first girl could have dyed it. She, again, assessed all she could see, only instead of wanting to know how it worked like her sister she looked like she was trying to see how she could use what she saw to her advantage, the trait of a good commander. But, again, Halsey wasn't looking for commanders, there would be enough from the clones, she wanted to create the greatest warrior the galaxy had ever seen, ones who could stand alongside and then surpass even the Jedi. The second girl's eyes moved from me to Halsey, while the firsts never left me. Brown eyes widened in surprise before quickly focusing on their sister. She whispered something and pulled her sister back, the sister didn't look too pleased with this but relented and both disappeared from view. Curious, that look almost seemed as though she recognised Halsey. I focused back on Halsey and Jacobs conversation.

'No.' Firm, unrelenting, the man wasn't gonna change his mind, whatever it was. 'I won't let you.' It was my turn to widen my eyes in surprise. Did Halsey tell him? No, no of course not. She had spent more years on this than in anything else, she would never endanger it now.

'You don't have a choice it's my legal right.' O...Kay. We had literally spent the last 3 days going planet to planet in order to make a list of children we planned to kidnap along with making 75 clones that were engineered to die, essentially murder. Funny how the law mattered now.

'They're not old enough to make their own decisions.' What did the girls have to do with this? I really should have payed more attention.

'One has already dyed her own hair and permanently stained her lips blue and the other has already enrolled herself into the naval military academy, I think they can make their own minds up.' Jacob looked even more sullen but he called the girls to the table. They approached cautiously.

'Girls, Dr. Halsey would like to ask you something.' Well time to find out what this was all about. Halsey looked annoyed.

'You don't have to make it sound like I'm not their mother.' What? That was a surprise. Although I suppose that made more sense. The sullenness from Jacob and the reasoning for using 6 year olds from Halsey. No matter how many times she said it was because their minds were more accepting of indoctrination and their bodies more adaptable to augmentation. The result, the ultimate soldier. Yeah, not buying it. Why not 3 or 4 year olds then. Greater control over their development and personalities then whereas now they are already showing different traits, like Shev'la and the girls. If she had changed the age to 6 after finding out about our 10 year time frame to better prepare them for deployment with the clones, like Halsey apparently wants, for field testing she says, then I could accept that as the cybernetic augmentation is supposed to happen when they hit 14 years. This leaves 2 years to better prepare their new bodies for war. But no, seeing the girls made sense now. She chose 6 not for the best results but because she missed her daughters, because she saw these new soldiers as her own children. Halsey turned to the girls.

'Girls, I am going to be away for a long time and I would like for you to come with me. Would you like to come with me?' I can safely say I wasn't expecting that. On second thought I should. While it's shocking Halsey wants her precious daughters to see what was about to happen to her new child soldiers I suppose if she was willing to put children through her harsh regime and alterations then I suppose she wouldn't mind if other children saw it, even if it was her own daughters, anything so long as the girls were by her side. Brown looked outraged.

'NO' She recoiled too. I guess the daughter didn't love the mother as much as the mother loved the daughter. Blue spoke next, a little timid but definitely with full confidence like she was sure of her answer but afraid of something too.

'I'll go.' Browns head swivelled to look at her sister with outrage.

'Cortana.' More confidence this time.

'I'll go.' Well, nothing like a bit of family drama. Brown looked ready to explode.

'You wanna go well, well, well FINE THEN. GO, GO THEN AND YOU TWO NEVER COME BACK.' Brown ran past me then out the door. Jacob came to crouch next to his only remaining daughter.

'You know this means we won't see each other for a very long time' Cortana nodded, with tears in her eyes. The barely audible I know would have been heart warming if I even knew what that was like. Who knows, soon, maybe I will.

'You take care little Blue.' The girl nodded and Jacob turned to Halsey.

'You'll probably be gone by the time I get back so I'll say goodbye now. Goodbye Catherine' Halsey's sadness moved from her face to her voice.

'Goodbye Jacob.' On his way out he stopped next to me.

'If anything happens to that little girl then there will be no where you can hide from me Fett.' The venom in his voice was new.

'Or from Clan Keyes.' With that he left. Well, now the venom made sense. At least a bit. You see, about 12 years ago the Mandalorian Civil War ended with the defeat of the True Mandalorians to the Death Watch faction after 26 years of bloody conflict that spanned all of Mando Space. I fought in the tail end of the war but Clan Fett as a whole fought throughout on both sides of the conflict. The Death Watch tricked the Jedi into helping them finish the True Mandalorians off by pretending we had been killing civilians. The Keyes Clan belong to House Kryze, the winners of the Great Clan Wars which had ended only a few months ago. This war involved the Death Watch trying to usurp the Duchess after finishing with us, the chosen leader who inherited the position from her dear old daddy when he kicked the bucket. At least he was a true warlord. But I digress, Keyes hates me either because I was on the side that killed civilians or I'm on the side that tried to kill his family. See Keyes was one of the few tried and tested commanders on the New Mandalorian side. While the Death watch was filled with veterans of my war. Keyes had made a small but respected name as a naval commander in the Stark Hyperspace War and then went on to make an even bigger name for himself in the Great Clan War as a very capable commander. I actually felt a little bit of sweat on the back of my neck after I pieced it all together.

Halsey and Cortana had finished packing by the time I had finished reminiscing and so we left. As we approached the Slave 1 I asked Halsey something that had been bugging me for sometime.

'Why are you doing this?' She didn't need me to elaborate.

'My Spartans are Mandalore's next step. Our destiny as a people. Do not underestimate them.' A warning and a promise all in one.

'Spartans? You've finally named them?' She had been mulling this one over for sometime now.

'I felt it was appropriate.' Succinct. While the message was clear, the name fit, I didn't understand it.

'Appropriate? How?' A small nostalgic smile graced her lips. I didn't realise a women like her could smile so damn much. Then again this was the start of the culmination of her life's work and being reunited with her daughter will make even a women as cold as her smile some. I didn't expect it to last.

'You haven't heard the legend of the Spartan Clan of Malachor V?' I shook my head. 'Then maybe one day I'll tell you.' And with that the loading bay doors closed and it was time to head back to Kamino.