Author's Note : Unfortunately, this is going to have to be the last chapter I will be able to write for Metal Menace for a few months. I will be off at the advanced training for the Army over the summer and will not be able to continue this book until the fall 2018. I hope you've enjoyed the book thus far, and will continue to read in the fall! Thank you for continuing to read and support my works!

Chapter IX

Given the circumstances, the Clones calm and collective demeanor astonishes Hera as they scout out the canyon floor. They've been walking for nearly a half hour now, and neither of them have so much as raised an eyebrow to the smallest sound of a pebble falling from the cliff's ledge above. Hera and Sean on the other hand, constantly are looking over their shoulder for an incoming Separatists patrol. Perhaps, unlike them, the Clone's are battle hardened enough to recognize when there is eminent danger.

Sean steps past his sister to get alongside Hup. He stares briefly at the trooper's blaster before looking up at his face - or his helmet. "By what you said earlier," Sean says, "I take it you've seen many battles?"

The Clone laughs slightly, "I suppose so, or at least have seen enough combat to know what war is truly like."

"Hup and I were there when the war started." Blaze adds, "That was Geonosis. The Bug's turned the planet into a Clanker factory."

Hera has no idea what these "Bugs" are, she sees no point in asking, she assumes however that it's a nickname for some alien species.

"The Sepies really put up a fight." Hup continues, his tone becoming deep and serious. "It was our first battle, and we lost a lot of good men that day." He goes quiet for a couple seconds. "Many were barely even out of training."

"Thankfully, we were a fairly older batch, and we spent on end of training up to that point."

Now Hera's curiosity is raised, she wouldn't mind getting to know how such large numbers of Clones are trained for combat at once. "And how are you trained?"

Blaze looks over his shoulder at the green Twi'lek, "Well, Clone's are generated and genetically modified for battle on Kamino. With discipline through excessive physical and combat training, we are molded into soldiers." Blaze nods towards Hup. "We were in the same squad during training, training that is to be fighter pilots. We spent months practicing maneuvers and battle drills in flight simulators, but it was nothing like that first fight, and nothing prepared us for fighting beside a Jedi."

Hera gets a little closer to the troopers, wanting to hear a little more about the Jedi. "Is that a bad thing?"

Hup laughs, "Not at all! Most Jedi I'd fight beside any day; especially our general."

"And who is that?" Sean asks instantly.

"General Mace Windu." Blaze says, "In my opinion, one of the finest Jedi to serve as a general."

Hera remembers her father saying he was meeting a Jedi before he left, the Jedi's name she remembers being Mace Windu.

"That's the Jedi father is meeting." Sean says.

The Clone's stop, and stare at Sean as if their attitude towards the sibling's have taken a sudden and drastic turn. Hera can feel her heart beating hard in her chest, their silence makes her worry.

"Your father?" Blaze asks followed immediately by Hup asking who their father is.

Hera takes over for Sean, "Cham Syndulla."

"The Freedom Fighter of Ryloth?"

Hera nods, "That's him."

"And you're his kids." Hup groans, "That changes things a bit."

Sean can't hide his sudden frustration, as his face gives it away. "And how is that?" he asks with a tad of snarkiness in his tone.

Hup flings his blaster over his shoulder. "General Windu is working towards creating an alliance between the Republic and Cham Syndulla's Freedom Fighters. If we, soldiers of the Republic, puts Syndulla's kids at risk, it may complicate a compromise between the Republic and your father."

Suddenly, C1 spins around the troopers and the Twi'leks on his center strut, with his antenna spinning while he frantically whoops. Hera just notices how silent the astromech has been - very strange for him. Blaze cocks his helmeted head, clearly bewildered of the droids bizarre antics, something to which Hera has become accustomed to. "What is the droid saying?" Blaze asks.

"He's detecting some kind of electronic pulse up ahead." Hera translates, "About two hundred meters further."

"Battle droids?" Hup asks.

C1 spins his dome around as if shaking his head. "No." Hera confirms.

Blaze thinks, "Could be a Sepi security point, or just some scavengers."

"Either way," Sean blatantly butts in, "we are in this too deep now to turn back. I'm afraid your stuck with us for now."

The Clones look at each other for what seems like several minutes, as if having a silent conversation between each other. Hera and Sean can't tell if their talking telepathically, or perhaps their helmets have built in private audio receptors, making it so that they can talk between each other without the siblings being able to eavesdrop in on their conversation.

"Very well." Hup says at last, "But until the end, you listen and follow our every order. If we tell you to hide; you will hide. If we tell you to run-"

"We will run?" Sean rolls his eyes and says sarcastically.

He sees through the corner of his eye, his sister glaring at him, as if silently correcting him for his rude comment.

Sean can feel Blaze's eyes burn through the helmet and into him. "Preciscely. And through the most discipline two soldiers can give in a situation like this."

Hera steps between Sean and Blaze. "We understand completely, and will follow to your discretion."

"Then let's keep moving." Hup says, "It's not good to stay in one place for long."

C1 indeed picked up an electronic pulse, and it was coming from the group target. The canyon narrows into a passageway, the group hunkers down behind a large boulder as the Clones carefully inspect the area from a safe one hundred meters away. Their analysis of the passageway tells them that it appears wide enough to move several battle droids through, as well as transport craft, and possibly heavy armor like tanks.

Blaze and Hup kneel down beside Hera and Sean.

"There's no sign of any cameras or surveillance equipment." Blaze says, "Whatever your readings are droid." C1 whoops as he looks at the trooper. "They must be wrong."

"Maybe the droids detecting himself." Hup laughs, "A couple circuits short."

C1 grumbles loudly, apparently not finding the troopers humor funny, then quickly moves around the cover with his grasping arms extended."

Blaze reaches out sharply in attempt to grab the droid, but fails as he returns to cover. "Hey! Get back here!"

"Is that droid malfunctioning?" Hup adds.

Hera shakes her head, "Nope. That's just his normal programing."

C1 reaches out one of his grasping arms and picks a rock up from off a boulder. The droid continues to roll up to the mouth of the tall passageway, before stopping short of twenty-five meters of it. The group watches attentively from behind the boulder.

C1's head starts spinning very fast with the rock still in his grasping arm. The droid continues to spin for a few seconds, gaining momentum, until he releases the rock and it is flung towards the passageway. The rock flies into its mouth, and the group is awestruck to see a sudden bright flash as a transparent red wall suddenly appears at the passageway entrance. The rock C1 tossed, hits the ground at the base of the wall - completely charred.

"Blast!" Blaze says aloud, "A ray shield. Invisible to the naked eye."

Hup shakes his head, "Anyone can just blindly walk into that, and, - er - well." The Clone nods at the charred rock.

Suddenly, the sound of repulsorlifts echo through the canyon. Blaze looks over the boulder to see C1 moving towards a new cover as red wall is deactivated and two battle droids on speeders come to a stop outside the entrance.

"Clankers, on speeders. Two of them." he says grimley.

The air goes still and quiet, as the distinct high pitched electronic voices of battle droids can be faintly heard talking to each other.

"Something triggered the security gate in Sector Twelve." one droid says.

"Fan out. It may be one of those local rebels." the other orders.

"Your circuits are cross wired. If it was them, the gate would have terminated them."

"I don't see what else it would be. The next convoy isn't scheduled to arrive for another two rotations."

Hup motions to bring the group closer together to talk under a whisper. "We have to take out those droids, if they find C1, they'll get an idea we're here. Two good shots to the head will take them out."

"Agreed." Hera compiles, "But don't hit their heads."

"That's the best way to take them out." Blaze puts.

"You're going to have to trust me on this one. I have a plan."

Sean looks over his shoulder at Hera, "I think C1's ahead of you."

They carefully look over the rock to see the astromech moving out of cover and towards the droids with his grasping arms up.

"Oh no." Hera says.

"Is he surrendering?" Sean asks.

Hera shakes her head and smiles, "I'm afraid not."

C1 gets the attention of battle droid patrol. The two droids quickly move over to the astromech with their blaster's raised.

"You stupid little astromech!" one of them say before demanding snobbishly for a droid, "What are you doing out here? Where is your owner?"

C1 gives out a series of angry sounding whoops.

"An independent droid?" the other battle droid says in a profound tone, "You need a maintenance exam. Come with us."

C1 whoops again, insisting he is an "independent droid".

"Resist and you will be terminated."

C1 abruptly goes silent and puts his grasping arms high in the air.

Hup nudges Blaze. "Time to do something."

"On it." Blaze assures.

Blaze takes a deep breath before jumping up from behind the cover with his blaster raised, it only takes a split second before his sight is on droid left of C1. He fires two shots and the second bolt drops the droid with a clean shot in the chest.

"What the!" the last droid yells in alarm.

C1 suddenly extends his spark rod and connects the current to the battle droids knee joint. Sparks pulse through the droids body until it's functions fry and it falls forward. Once it's on the ground, C1 takes out his circular saw attachment and effortlessly severs the droids head from it's body as he laughs.

The Clone's and Twi'leks get out from behind cover and hurry over to C1. They look over the results to the droids quick thinking in distracting the droids long enough for Blaze to blast one of them and C1 to fry another - and take a souvenir.

Hup laughs upon seeing the headless droid. "Would you look at that! This astromechs chopin' up Clankers as if they're nothing!"

C1 seems to be pleased with the Clones remark. While it runs through Hera's head a couple times. Chopin' up Clankers.

Chopin', chop. Hera think's to herself, Chop.

"How about that?" She says aloud.

"What?" Sean asks.

Hera smiles as she looks at the droid. "Well, I've been meaning to come up with a name for C1. I do with all my projects. So how about 'Chop'?"

"Not bad." Sean says with a grin. "But better yet, what about 'Chopper'?"

C1 lets out a bunch of excited whoops while throwing his arms around as if fighting a ghost.

"I think he likes it." Hera observes, "Alright then, Chopper it is."