The Clone Wars : The Pengalan Tradeoff " The Clone Wars : The Pengalan Tradeoff " is a short story written by Aaron Allston and illustrated by Tommy Lee Edwards . It was originally printed in " Star Wars Insider 65 " and was later republished as Fiction on January 27 , 2006 . Plot summary . The story is about Joram Kithe , a self - described lazy , cowardly Galactic Republic accountant who was given an unusual task : evaluating the effectiveness of clone troopers in a combat situation , to see if further investment in the clone trooper program was advisable . To this end , he was assigned to a platoon of clone troopers during an assault on a suspected diamond - boron missile factory on Pengalan IV . Unfortunately , the factory was a trap and the Republic ' s assault force was severely beaten by the Separatists ' defenses . During the retreat , Kithe ' s gunship was shot down , leaving only him and 7 troopers alive . Due to his temporary commission as a Republic Intelligence lieutenant , the troopers put him in command despite his reluctance and utter lack of military skills . As he learned to work with the clones , he became impressed by their courage , skill and efficiency , but deplored their lack of individuality . He tried to correct that by giving them nicknames and showing them that following approved procedure was not necessarily the best way to go , and could even jeopardize the mission at times . Refusing capture , Kithe and the troopers made their way to Tur Lorkin , the nearest village , to find a suitable escape ship . Due to his accounting skills , Kithe noticed many wrong things about the place : it looked like a small farming community , but there were no farms , no visible industry , yet it boasted a clearly oversized spaceport . The figures just didn ' t add up , so he and the troopers decided to give a closer look leaving . They realized that the town was a merely a front : the diamond - boron missile factory did indeed exist and was hidden underground , right beneath it . The false factory they had attacked earlier was a decoy , quickly set up after the Separatists realized that the Republic knew about the factory . Kithe decided to get away and alert the Republic , but the troopers disagreed : by the time they reached Republic space , the Separatists would have found out about their escape and quickly relocated the factory . They had to destroy it before they could run away . Finding an unexpected sense of courage and duty , Kithe decided to join them in their mission , rather than just leaving . Together , they infiltrated and destroyed the factory , then managed to escape . However , their success came at a high cost : three of the troopers had died , men Kithe had grown to know and appreciate , which touched him deeply . As he admitted this to the troopers , they in turn had a revelation for him : they were not just ordinary clones . They were made " to be a little more self - reliant than the others . To be capable of more initiative ( . . . ) In case they need troopers for more specialized missions " . Kithe was supposed to assume that they were the norm and write a shining report about the clone troopers , thus encouraging more investment in them . Kithe decided to do just that , since he didn ' t know what this cover - up was for . However , he wondered why the troopers let him know about this . They said they felt that he had deserved it . That he was one of them .