Chapter 1
Star Wars Universe
Rise of the Clones
By: Michael Mulhollon
It’s been 2,000 years since the destruction of The Final Order and the death of Emperor Palpatine. FREEDOM REIGNED ACROSS THE GALAXY. In the thousand years since the New Republic ruled till the various star systems within, again, wished to separate from the New Republic. Rather than risk another civil war the New Republic aloud the systems to separate only on the condition not to wage war on their neighbors and the New Republic. Though when this happened more and more systems separated till eventually the New Republic decided to disband and since then the whole galaxy is ruled by various independent systems, protectorates and kingdoms all following the one rule that their people keep their freedom. In the thousand years since the disbandment of the New Republic, the stories of Skywalker, the Sith, Jedi, the Galactic Civil War and the war against the First and Final Orders passed into legend.
Now a new evil has arisen and one of the independent systems, the Zhargosia Republic, sent their hero’s, Michael and Chloe Valkyrie, to confront this new evil who calls himself Lord Serenity. Our hero’s fought against Serenity and his growing band of forces but for some reason he is able to predict their moves and either escape or counterattack our heroes till he stopped at Wol IV in the Wol System and both Michael and Chloe are now confronting this new evil in the hopes of keeping the peace throughout the galaxy….
Blackness, that is the only thing he sees at first till the darkness dimmed and light grew in its place till the darkness is gone. Then cloudy, indistinguishable objects began to appear and it felt like hours till his vision finally cleared and saw a bright blue sky with clouds that are both light and mysteriously black. He frowned at the sight and when he moved his head he noticed he is surrounded by wreckage of what appears to be from a very large ship that was in a form of a horseshoe shape. He noticed a large section of the hull (more than two stories) sat right in front of him and he tried to sit up but for some odd reason, he couldn’t. He tried shifting, crawling, anything, but the only part of his body he knows he could move is only his head and it felt heavy to move. He heard a shuffling noise to his right and he turned his head to see a person completely covered in rags or heavy clothing and his or her face is completely covered that he could not tell if it was a man or woman that is starring at him with its visor beneath its rags covering his or her head. The voice revealed it is a woman when she asked him, “Who are you?” He rasped, “Michael, Michael Val….” He coughed and blood spat out of his mouth onto the sand next to him. The woman immediately raised her right hand at Michael and said, “Don’t move.” Michael then heard shuffling noises and noticed more people in rags surrounded him and one of them just barely touched Michael when Michael cringed and felt intense pain at the touch on his chest and coursed throughout his body and the person that touched him (also revealed to be a woman) spoke firmly but calm, “Don’t move or scream! If you want to live don’t do anything!” She reached into a bag next to her but Michael could not see any further and he asked in a raspy voice, “Why can’t I move?” The woman that spoke first replied, “That large section of the ship that you see before you. It is right on top where your legs are.” Michael opened his mouth but the woman cut him off, “Save the rest of your questions later.” The woman next to Michael then said, “I am going to give you a sedative. This will put you to sleep for awhile so we can move you and avoid anymore pain till you wake up.” Michael sarcastically replied, “You’re the doc, doc.” As if ignoring his sarcasm, Michael felt the pain of a needle and after a few moments his vision began to fade and all he sees, again, is blackness. Not long after the darkness completely covered him he heard his wife, Chloe, screaming in fury, “YOU’RE A PIECE OF SHIT MICHAEL! YOU LOOK LIKE A MURDERER, AND YOU WILL ALWAYS BE A MURDERER” Then he heard his own voice scream, “WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE!” He looked around to find where he was, but to no avail, and he heard a deep, mechanical, male voice say, “You want me to become you. Here I am.” He turned around to see the source but saw a man in an aged dark grey suit that covered his entire body, a mask with black pearled eyes and a cape as he held a hand held device in his right hand and there was a sound and a red beam appeared from it. The man suddenly cried out as he brought the red beam up and down at Michael as Michael raised his hands over his head (as if to block it) he screamed in fright.
The red beam and darkness disappeared as Michael throttled awake in bed and looked up to see a woman with reddish orange hair looking down at him with a concerned look on her face as she held him firmly as she said aloud, “Michael!” Before he knew it, he grasped the woman’s throat and slammed her back to the ground and choked her as he screamed with furious rage. As fast as he attacked her, he stopped, looked around and he became aware of his surroundings before looking down at the woman and saw she still held a firm gaze at Michael as she held his wrists that are around his throat and she asked (with her voice rasping), “You all right?” He let her go and fell on his rear on the floor and looked around to see more orange haired women that looked exactly like the woman he was trying to choke in a beat up, worn torn, dirty room with only a worn dirty brown sheet that served as a door to the outside (which is sunny) and the women looked at him with a mixture of fear and shock. The woman got up, brushed the sand off her worn clothing and she looked and ordered the others that watched what unfolded, “Get back to work!” The clones at first hesitated but followed her orders and left as they glanced back with concerned looks as the woman extended her hand and Michael looked at it and her with puzzlement before taking it and was pulled up to his feet. The woman said, “My name is Miranda Cruz, and up till now I am the leader of my sisters.” Michael still looked puzzled and asked, “Miranda? What happened? How...” Miranda said, “I think it’s better if you sit down. It will take awhile to explain.” Michael sat on the edge of the bed as Miranda sat next to him and she began to explain.
