Star Wars - Darth Plagueis

required to grow a mature clone?”
    The three scientists traded looks.
    “In the case of the Yinchorri,” Ni Timor said at last, “certainly no fewer than twelve standard years, to allow for both physical and mental development. As you know we have had some success in acceleratingthe growth rate of certain cloned creatures, but not yet with full sentients, owing to the plasticity of the youthful brain.”
    “More important,” Lac Nor said, “while we might be able to grow a few clones, our facilities are at present inadequate to produce an army of any size.”
    “We would also need to consult with military specialists regarding programming,” Ko Sai added.
    “That can all be arranged,” Damask said. “Would you have any objections to working with Rothana Heavy Engineering?”
    “Of course not,” Ni Timor said.
    “Then Damask Holdings can provide whatever funding you need.”
    Ko Sai’s eyes appeared to widen. “The Prime Minister will be very pleased to learn of this,” she said with what passed for animation on Kamino.
    In his apartment in snowbound Theed, Palpatine watched a HoloNet replay of Jedi Knight Ronhar Kim leaping from a Coruscant taxi in midflight onto a monospeeder piloted by the Maladian contracted to assassinate the elder Kim. At the same time Palpatine spoke by comlink with Sate Pestage.
    “Is Naboo threading the story?” Pestage asked.
    “On every network.”
    “Breaking news, Coruscant,” a female correspondent was saying. “Chommell sector Senator Vidar Kim, of Naboo, was killed earlier today while en route to Mezzileen Spaceport, in what appears to have been an assassination. A hovercam stationed at Node SSJ in the Sah’c District captured the moment when a monospeeder approached Senator Kim’s taxi from behind, and its helmeted pilot unleashed a salvo of blaster bolts, killing Kim instantly and barely missing a second passenger—an as-yet-unidentified Jedi Knight. The hovercam recording shows the human male Jedi, armed with an activated lightsaber, hurling himself from the taxi and knocking the pilot assassin from the seat of the monospeeder. Eyewitnesses state that the Jedi managed to steer the assailant to a pedestrian walkway close to where the speeder crashed and burned, but Realtime News has yet to learn whether the assassin survived the fall. Wounded in the attack, the pilot of the taxi was taken to Sah’c Med-Center, where his condition is listed as grave.”
    “Is the Maladian alive?” Palpatine demanded of Pestage.
    “No. She spiked herself with a neurotoxin while Ronhar was trying to force information from her.”
    “You’re certain?”
    “Absolutely certain.”
    “The fool,” Palpatine fumed. “Why didn’t she wait until Kim had exited the taxi at Mezzileen?”
    “You instructed me to make it public, which is exactly what I told her. She made a point of firing in full view of the security cam, but I haven’t been able to determine whether or not she knew that Kim was riding with a Jedi. Based on the placement of the blaster bolts, I think she planned on taking out both of them.”
    “And if she’d succeeded, the Jedi would be conducting their own investigation.”
    “They are, regardless,” Pestage said. “Because Ronhar issued a statement to the media that he may have been the target.”
    Palpatine directed a scowl at the comlink cam. “Why didn’t you warn her about Ronhar?”
    “I did warn her. Maybe she wanted to add another Jedi kill to her résumé.”
    “Another?”
    “As I told you, the Maladians are very good at what they do.”
    Palpatine considered it. “If Ronhar is under the impression that he might have been the target, then Kim may not have revealed his suspicions about Tapalo and Veruna.”
    “He didn’t. I had him under surveillance from the moment he arrived on Coruscant, and he didn’t go anywhere near the Jedi Temple or meet with anyone on the Senate Investigatory Committee. I have recordings of the three meetings he had with Ronhar in his office in the Senate Annex, and at no time did he offer anything more than veiled references to intrigues on Naboo.”
    “Was he able to persuade Ronhar to leave the Order?”
    “No. Ronhar said that he respected Kim for being his—what was the word he used?— progenitor . But that he considers the Temple to be his home and the Jedi to be his family.”
    Palpatine forced an exhale. “I warned him.”
    “Kim tried to convince him that family blood comes first, but