(The Following is a outline for a proposed storyline that might appear within an Pulp Anthology comic titled "
Astonishing Attrition" which will also
include two other separate storylines.)
Issue 1: Empatajayos Brand-21 years before the battle of Yavin IV
Master Brand leads his troops to victory by way of actually riding their concussion missiles to their intended target; the Separatist Base of Domb Treetor.
Only after the capture, does the Jedi master learn of several thousand natives whom fled to the fringes of the Bassadro System to avoid the battle. one such vessel was carrying the Soear Royal Family of the Lorrbeqi system, During the voyage the heir to the throne Yap-En Soear was forced to sit idly by while his wife Gilga died giving birth to their only son Gigin-Taue.
Upon orders from the Supreme Chancellor the Jedi Council is urged to have Master Brand accompany the monarch Soear back to Lorrbeqi Prime, where Yap-en entrusts his son to the royal court and decrees his wishes to enlist in the Grand Army of the Republic.
Brand and Soear begin their perilous journey across the war torn galaxy to the capital of the Republic; along the way they gather support for an Independent Militia of Planetary Forces to assist the beleaguered Jedi Generals and perhaps a way to stem the staggering costs of the Kaminoan Clone Army.
In an effort to quell the effort; Darth Sidious orders Count Dooku to dispatch his Dark Acolyte Sev’rance Tann to assassinate the Lorrbeqian Monarch.
Issue 2: Yap-En Soear-20 years before the battle of Yavin IV
After evading a multitude of Assassination attempts The Lorrbeqian King makes an unannounced appearance within the Galactic Senate; where his Militia effort is completely undermined by systems loyal to the profits behind the Clone Army. The chancellor himself pleads for the movement to be given a scheduled deliberation; thus giving the proposed IMPF an equal opportunity.
A displeased Jedi Council admonishes Master Brand for instigating Soear’s radical movement against the unpopular Grand Army; for an Independent Militia will prove harder to dismantle after the summation of the Conflict and perhaps lead to the formation of a third party in the already unwieldy Clone Wars. Brand challenges the Council to prognosticate upon the subject at hand; which they refuse since it would require an extended meditation on the clouded future. Thus the council adjourns on a stalemate regarding Master Brand’s role in the formation of an Militia.
Holopundit Sloan Snickers is allowed full coverage of the ensuing Debate, Capitalizing upon the open Senate session Darth Sidious instructs his Sinister Agents to acquire the services of infamous Bounty Hunter Aurra Sing in the matter of the Lorrbeqian Monarchs address to the Senate.
Amidst the Media circus; Yap-En Soear rallies a string of supportive parties to his IMPF in an pre-Senate address. Before Soear’s Repulsorpod could approach the spotlight; a stray blaster bolt caught the diminutive monarch in the chest nearly killing him. The ensuing spray of bolts where deflected by Brand, causing a complete evacuation of the Senate, during the melee Sing attempts to flee but is confronted by her former master The Dark Woman. Their battle is chaotic and broadcast over the holonet; Aurra Sing telekinetically wields four light sabers against The Dark Woman whom utilizes the force phase technique to virtually teleport through the ravenous strikes. Seconds before her certain defeat, the Senate Guards recklessly attempt to snipe Sing, accidentally creating her exit route.
From the confines of a Bacta Tank; Yap-En Soear inspects the members of his “officially” unsanctioned Independent Militia comprised of Gungans,Mon Calamari,Rodians, and an Corellian Bloodstripe Fighter Squadron. Before Master Brand can congratulate the monarch; an Holofeed tells of the ousting of Duchess Satine’s pacifist government on Mandalore by the Mandalorian Protectors.
Issue 3: Spar-20 years before the battle of Yavin IV
An platoon of Mandalorian Protectors rain blaster bolts upon the fleeing citizens of Sundari; the ensuing bloodbath is without pity. Spar personally rockets after the retinue of the Duchess Satine; before the Mandalorian can slay the false leader she is defended by Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Jedi fends off Spar and successfully escapes the surface of the planet with Satine.
Ravenous at the sight of Satine’s escape; Spar signals his comrades on the moon of Concordia to detonate the Seismic mines strategically placed along the major fault lines. Thus obliterating the hidden Separatist base and the Death Watch terrorists. The ensuing blasts shatter the Concordian moon creating a blanket of asteroids in the way of the fleeing vessels; also blockading the planet.
On the surface of Mandalore; massive ground quakes and asteroid impacts destroy the domed city of Sundari. Spar and his Supercommandos lift off into the air via their rocket packs; as the entire face of the planet is reshaped.
Amidst the rubble Kenobi successfully escapes the newly formed Asteroid belt surrounding the planet; before entering Hyperspace the Duchess pleads with Kenobi to abandon the Jedi Order and flee with her to Kalevala instead of informing the Republic of the situation as well as their survival. Before the conflicted Knight can decide a klaxon sounds; a hologram of Empatajayos Brand and Yap-En Soear flares to life indicating the arrival of Republic forces. The Duchess officially concedes her authority over the sector to the Republic, and retires to her chamber.
Furious with the treachery of the Mandalorian Protectors; Count Dooku unleashes his greatest weapon against the Mandos: Durge whom immediately assails the surface of the planet with hordes of massive B3 Ultra Battle Droids.
Issue 4: Dilbun Vont-20 years before the battle of Yavin IV
Within the confines of an abandoned Tibanna gas mine, Dilbun applies freshly severed Lekku to a discarded protocol Droid. A hologram flares to life; Vont nonchalantly addresses it as Augie with his back turned. Upon uttering a phrase in its guttural tongue Dilbun quickly obscures the incomplete Lekku parade from his former employer the Gamorrean Femme Fatale; Plethora whom has insinuated Vont into her current scheme. It is quickly revealed that almost seven of Plethora’s pleasure dens in the Coco district have lost their Twi’lek slaves to a murderous madman whom she wishes Dilbun to deal with; he accepts the job on the condition that she accompany him.
Vont and Plethora join forces on Speeder Bikes in the underbelly of Coruscant, Dilbun leads the husky woman to a undisturbed pleasure den crime scene he had previously visited.
Upon its discovery Vont leads Plethora to Centax-3: the parking lot moon of the capitol world where upon leaving her vessel Dilbun ejects Plethora out into space and goes onto have a shadowy meeting with Tarkin whom briefs the Black Ops commander upon his next mission; release a failed experimental clone squad upon Mandalore while also sabotaging both Republic and Separatist forces.
Following his orders; Vont retrieves the Carbonite blocks containing “The Clone Masters”, defrosts J’mee Fett, commandeers a full platoon of CloneTroopers and sets out for Manadalore.
Issue 5: Panzer,Blitz,Gulag: “The Clone Masters’’-20 years before the battle of Yavin IV
Deep within the bowls of a secret laboratory; Kaminoan scientist Tyyko Brahey and his aides experiment on remnants of the Infinity Gate as well as Rakatan artifacts. While combining portions of the relics with a Hyperspace conduit and funneling it into a Spaarti Clone Cylinder; they conjure three pure energy beings.
During their formative stages; the three are tested rigorously against various mechanical dangers revealing their Multiplexing and Mimetic abilities as well their virtual invulnerableness. Brahey basks in the glory of his discovery before the Hologram of Darth Sidious; whom quickly shoots down the cloners delusions of Godhood and reveals the Clone Masters are nothing but resurrected members of the long extinct Celestial race.
Acting out of fear; the Sith Lord immediately enacts containment procedures. Sealing the entire complex and burrowing it into the core of Coruscant, the infantile Celestials instinctively perceive the threat to their lives. Acting as one they multiply themselves till they burst the laboratory open and fill the tunnel with duplicates.
After escaping the tunnel, the three emerge within a greater structure where they confront the petrified Sith Lord whom attempts to placate them by way of bowing in reverence. Driven by generations of dominance over lesser life forms, the Clone Masters mimic Sidious’s vocalizations and demand knowledge. After divulging a heavily Sith centric view of Galactic history, the Clone Masters believe they must champion the Sith cause and bring about a new Galactic Order.
The Sith Lord and the energy beings stride into Palpatine’s secret hideout in the rapidly decaying Industrial section of Coruscant. Sidious bestows upon the Clone Masters honorary names: Panzer, Blitz, Gulag. Blinded by the Sith Lords show of praise while standing on Carbon Freezing platforms disguised as pedestals; the three are instantly encased. As Sidious goes to vaporize the blocks, a hologram of Tarkin flares to life detailing the situation on Mandalore.
Issue 6: The Battle of Mandalore-20 years before the battle of Yavin IV
Hundreds of Mandalorian Supercommandos swarm the hulking B3 Ultra Battle Droids as they bombard the entrenched fortress of Spar. Within his tactical center The Mando is confronted with argumentative holograms of representatives of Durge and Empatajayos Brand; Both threaten one another over the territory while urging Spar to stand down. The Mando defies both sides and proclaims the planet’s Neutrality will be unquestioned after both armies retreat. Amidst the political stalemate the Air Cruisers of the Independent Militia of Planetary Forces join the fray above the Mando Fortress recklessly engaging the massive Battle Droids; dozens of the Mando Rocket men are caught in the crossfire.
From the relative safety of a orbiting artificial asteroid; Commander Vont blithely sends his Troops into suicide missions crossing both battlefronts. The Clone Queen prototype; J’mee Fett advices Vont of his many Tactical errors to which he pays no attention. His clone squads plant a series of Thermal Detonators around the intended lines of victory; all entrances to Spar’s entrenched fortress. Barely avoiding the intense firefights between the hulking Droid behemoths and the Blood thirsty Supercommandos; the heavily blast charred clone troops scurry to their intended targets bickering about their dire status via commlink to Vont whom implements a command code demanding total silence and a dedication to completing said mission without regard for their own survival.
Once all portions of the battle are within the Thermal Detonator net, Vont explodes them causing an mighty tectonic shift resulting in a unnatural canyon containing all combatants, almost all of the B3’s stumble to regain footing as the IMPF air cruisers assail them. The SuperCommandos regroup atop the newly formed ridge and commence a firing squad; from direct orbit Vont jettisons the Carbonite blocks containing the Clone Masters. The blocks each land perfectly upright within smoldering impact craters created by their impact; the defrosting cycle is remotely triggered by Vont as he and the Clone Queen make their departure from the artificial asteroid.
From within his completely berried Fortress, Spar calls all remaining Mando forces to the newly formed Canyon. Without delay Brand lead’s his Troops into the fray atop military grade speeder bikes, as one unit they descend the canyon wall advancing upon Durge’s blithering behemoths. Enraged by the ease of his near defeat the Separatist general bounds towards the oncoming Jedi led charge, he is peppered by precise Mando sharp shooters as he rushes to confront the downhill racing Speeders. As the two parties race towards one another, a stray Carbonite block releases a yellow glowing being of pure energy whom upon assessing the situation multiplies itself into a hundred entity strong army. Durge instantly opens fire upon it to no avail, the speeder bike charge is broken upon contact with the energy army alas any physical impacts made with them cause instant vaporization of both parties involved in the friction, Brand springs from his speeder seconds before it vanishes along with a duplicate energy being; the Jedi orders his troops to avoid them upon this realization. From atop the ridge the Mandos all fire their rocket launchers upon Durge, the Separatist is enveloped in a massive explosion. Free of its armor Durge assumes his naturally boneless Gen’Dai form of muscle tissue and elastic veins to lash out at the clone troopers manically, Brand attempts to telekinetically rupture Durge.
The Clone Masters dominate the battlefield with the mere presence of their duplicates, whose molecular structures vaporize any opposing friction. Recklessly Durge stampedes them, searing off whole portions of his body as he nears Blitz, the duplicates march towards Master Brand whom protects himself with a veritable wall of Light created by telekinetically wielding his Lightsaber around his entire body; miraculously the energy blade services each contact while the energy clones perish. From within his temporal energy chrysalis, Brand quickly grows tired from his rapidly depleting oxygen and from having to concentrate on not letting the hilt of his Saber connect with the energy beings. From above Yap-En Soear studies the biological data gleaned from his onboard instruments, an droid attendant quickly recognizes the energy structure of the clone masters as the polar opposite of what standard Tractor Beams output and theorizes the beings could be easily subdued within a orb of such energy. Without hesitation Soear pilots his vessel at full speed towards the congregation of the Clone Masters; at the last moment he veers upwards while triggering his tractor beam, all three are caught within the beam. Seizing the opportunity both Durge and Master Brand retreat from the deathtrap canyon; amidst the Mandalorian shooting gallery both are recovered by craft of their factions and escape into orbit. The Mandalorian’s proclaim victory whilst still firing upon their retreating enemies.
While regaining his composure Master Brand addresses the holographic representation of Yap-En Soear whom continues to hold the Clone Masters captive within his air cruisers tractor beam, Brand implores his friend to quickly board the nearest Republic Destroyer. But before Soear can do so, his craft his lassoed by a Separatist battleship as it blasts into light speed. On Cato Neimodia; Viceroy Nute Gunray gloats over his newly minted prisoner of War Yap-En Soear, Back on Coruscant; Empatajayos Brand is sworn to secrecy by Chancellor Palpatine in regards to the Energy Beings encountered on Mandalore, in the lower levels of the galactic capitol; a Twi’lek strum accompanies Dilbun Vont down an alleyway, Deep within a facility at the center of the Maw Cluster of Black Holes, Count Dooku encases three independent Tractor beam projected orbs in Carbonite as a hologram of Darth Sidious observes the Clone Masters vowing a great cleansing of inferior beings from the galaxy. The sith lord lets out a cackle as the process completes.
