Resistance News Network: Kamino
Year 24 Day 134 - Flanked by uniformed clone soldiers and Resistance dignitaries, Resistance Leader General Gand Xitwa officially welcomed veterans of the former Grand Army of the Republic and their descendants back to Kamino, this time for good. The growing assortment of veterans groups had been working with Ternion Corps for years to find a permanent home for themselves and their families, free from the stigma of the war and its fallout, and the ubiquitous prejudice that many clones experienced since. After months of negotiations, the Free Peoples of Kamino - the name taken by the clones of the prime template- have been given a floating city where they hope to build a dignified home for themselves.
The mood was hopeful and bright despite the whipping winds and rain. Several members of the Resistance command and leaders of Ternion Corps were on hand for speeches and presentations, but the highlight of the day was the parade and air show. Acclamators and Arquitens flew over the platform along with formations of V-19s and Z-95 starfighters soaring overhead, as AT-TEs, Razor tanks, and Blaze armor marched alongside thousands of proud Clone troopers, their civilian counterparts cheering them on from the sidelines.
Following the parade, Governor General Rex Republica, leader of the Reformed Grand Army and the now-established Republic Protectorate of Kamino addressed the crowds, “Today, we remember those of us who could not be here, who fought on the frontlines of civil war in the name of freedom, democracy, and the republic. For every veteran and survivor with us today, there are hundreds of our brothers who died on thousands of worlds across this galaxy. This is the culmination of their work, of their sacrifices. They were not accorded the freedoms and dignity that they so valiantly fought for, and yet they fought on. Many assume it was programming, but we are not droids. We fought because we believed, and that belief has borne fruit.
“I don’t need to tell you that life after the war was not easy. Our faces were those of war, of destruction, of instability, loss, and uncertainty. To many, we represented hardship, even oppression. We represented a past they could not reclaim, or a future they did not desire. With no homeworld of our own and little if anything to fall back on, we lived in diaspora, subject to prejudice and poverty. We have yearned for a home with our brothers, a place to raise our children, and their children, and theirs. Brothers, this is that day and this is that home. We thank The Resistance and the Ternion Corps for finally endowing us with the equality and respect any race in this galaxy is afforded, and for recognizing us not as disposable things, but as people, a unique people with their own culture and identity. With the Cloning facilities here on Kamino, for the first time in history, our future is in our own hands, and we are free to lay down roots and to pursue lives other than what we were built for.
“Brothers, we are free!”
Ceremonies on Kamino are expected to continue for several days as celebrations for the homecoming are shared by all in the sector.
