Note: Ok, this is going to be a really long chapter. I may even have to extend the whole episode to 4-5 parts total in order to compensate, but we will see.

One interesting thing I focused on this time was in creating a robot that is… well, in my own words "Not OP, but adaptable." A robot that is linked directly with the Force on some level to add predictability to its power, a robot that can adapt between speed, flying, walking, power, defense, and other depictions of a fighting robot, yet at the same time not make it overpowered.

A method to doing this is making it so that the Force-Link the robot has is part of its adaptability. I don't want to give too much away, but describing the robots will be fun.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the clothes on my back.

Episode 3 - Lair of Darkness - Part 2/3

Anakin left his Padawan to his thoughts and returned to his hovercar. His words had been more than he originally intended. As a teacher, he had a fair idea how laid out he wanted the stages to be in teaching Varus. He had done the stages he wanted, but then added on another or two in describing his mother's death and the aftermath in such detail. He didn't want to rush Varus or cause the young man to attach himself to him too strongly. It was important for a Jedi to be able to deal with separation without being completely shattered.

He would need to rethink the next phase or two of Varus's training and learning carefully. Thing had gone well so far. Considering the young man had Sith instincts, he would not have the patience to sit down and learn of patience verbally. The teaching method would need to be involving, physical in some way, and be blunt. Anakin could take a Jedi and have a lengthy conversation on battle theory and philosophy, but for a Sith, he expected the learning of battle theory was hands on, the hard way. Sith learned few lessons the easy way. Not only because of their stubbornness, but because they were quick to action.

Despite his initial fear of not being able to penetrate the ex-Sith's shell, he found it amazingly easy. If anyone had told the Jedi Knight that he would be successfully, slowly but successfully, converting a Sith aside from anger and rashness and hatred a week ago, he would have laughed in the man's face.

On second thought, the process was almost too easy. It did not look like Varus was rejecting, completely, everything he was seeing and hearing, but Anakin felt it was being rushed. He didn't want to overload the young man. Varus was absorbing everything like a sponge! His amnesia was bringing out a side of him that was laid back and calm about his situation over the long term, and he was choosing to make the most of it. It was more than he could have expected from a former Sith.

Varus wouldn't be overloaded, he would be harmed or confused if he pushed himself too far. Knowledge was something that needed time to settle. It was like puzzle pieces. You don't just throw it onto a board and expect it to make sense. You gave it time to settle, for the pieces to slowly fit together.

Progress was good, and Varus had much to think about. He had enough to deal with for the time being.

Anakin flipped on the holotransmitter and went through priority channels to both Jedi Master Mace Windu and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. They both appeared after a short time.

"Master, Chancellor. This is a secure private transmission." Anakin greeted officially. "My Padawan's and I have started our mission a few days late. We are about to begin looking into a site I chose. I did some investigating into a probable location, and this is a good one. Even if my mission is initially a failure, it may bring a good side effect."

"Mission?" The Chancellor asked curiously. He turned to the holo-image of the Jedi Master. "I know nothing of any mission? Weren't you supposed to be preparing your new Padawan for them instead?"

"I am doing that as well, Chancellor." Anakin nodded firmly and put his hands together behind his back.

Seeing his chance to speak, Windu spoke up, "Supreme Chancellor, we have reason to speculate that a person of interest may be hiding on Coruscant. The other Master's and I are sending out a small number of teams to see if the rumor is true."

"Oh, excellent! And who might that be?"

"Darth Sidius."

The Supreme Chancellor visibly flinched at the statement and looked between Anakin and Windu wildly. He paled and… just as quickly returned to neutrality. "I-I see." He coughed into his hand. "May I ask where this rumor originates from?"

Anakin interrupted as the Jedi Master opened his mouth, "I believe it a bad time for too much information to be in the air. This is a touchy subject and I don't want him getting wind of this. All I wanted was to inform you both I have begun to investigate my chosen site."

The Chancellor sighed in relief for some reason. It was a small sigh, but one Anakin could still catch. "Very good. Do send me a report when you are through."

"Actually, if I may?" Anakin responded. "May we do it in person? If the Dark Lord is here, I don't want him getting too much over the wire."

"You believe him here that much?"

"Not necessarily." Windu stated. "But it doesn't hurt to be safe. Good thinking, Skywalker. Notify me when you are ready to convene in person."

"Agreed." Palpatine said.

"Will do, Master, Chancellor." Anakin turned off the holotransmitter.

Hopefully it went unnoticed by any lurking Dark Lords. If it was, however, he wouldn't have too much information. It was risky, but such was the chain of command…

Anakin returned to Varus to find Snips was already back. She stood by him rocking back and forth on her heels. "What did you find?" He asked her.

"Dark, dark, and a whole lot of nothing surrounded in shadow and empty space. The place is one giant ghost sector. Almost too much, actually. It was like an entire army stormed through here shooting in every direction possible or a stampede of rancor. Or we set Varus loose in there." She joked.

"Hey!" Varus snapped from his musings.

"Shhh." Anakin quietly stopped the fight before it started. "Anything of interest?"

Ahsoka reported, "You weren't joking about there being a door. A really big, HUGE double door." She extended her arms out as far in both directions as she could for emphasis. "If that isn't a big enough of a clue, the door doesn't have a speck of dirt. It's as clean as crystal in a jewelry store, and with just as many sparkles. It's almost like the door rejects filth and dust. A subtle shield?"

"Probably." Her master agreed. "Good going Snips. Let's have a look."

"Snips, you take point. Varus, keep an eye behind us." My master orders.

I stand up and follow them into Sector 7207. Almost as soon as the shadows laid over us, girly disappears. Ok, that was cool.

I check behind us frequently as we walk slowly. We navigate over and around rubble lying in the middle of the road. A couple hovercars lay in the road as rubble too. Their glass is broken all over the ground and they no longer have the power to do anything but waste space.

The journey for us, or at least me, is tense and uneventful. Every breeze shakes something and my hands springs to my saber, ready to strike down evil and be a champion of righteousness or whatnot. That sounds creepy actually when I think that. Do people actually think like that?! Really, I am just gonna stab whatever it is that comes on us until it falls and get through this with my sanity intact. Whether I scream like a girl while running for my life is another story. Is there a way to run for your life while screaming a manly squeal?

A door swings open in the wind with a loud crash and I flinch and bump into Tree-Hugger, nearly knocking him over. He pushes me back to position and signals for me to be quiet, and I hear girly up ahead with a light giggle.

If I just squealed, I didn't hear it. I refuse for there to be witnesses.

I'm not scared. Don't get me wrong. I am just preparing myself for a negative encounter. I've never had one before. I need to be prepared for every possible scenario, especially the ones I ain't prepared for. But then wouldn't I just be prepared for it? Which, doesn't actually make sense… I'm thinking too much.

But it's not like I can just turn my head off! There is nothing here to occupy my thoughts. We can only see a few inches from our face. We aren't pulling out our light sabers either! It's just slow going, through the darkness, one agonizing hour long inch at a time!

But really, the description girly gave was under exaggerated. The place didn't just look like an army walked through, it looked like an army took a gigantic dump on this place with every piece of ammo they had! With tanks, bazookas, aerial bombardment, the works!

There isn't a whole in the ground any more than three feet apart anywhere, and everything that isn't completely demolished, scrapped, destroyed, burnt, on fire, about to be on fire, sparkling, or just dead; well, it isn't here. It's like someone deliverable came through and made sure that not a single part of this entire sector was salvageable, usable, repairable, or even recognizable.

I can see why everyone left this place. Right now I am kinda appreciating the temple and how it isn't a giant death omen.

I also can't shake the feeling someone is watching me. The feeling is tickling the back of my head with its agonizingly long finger nails. Like a witch complete with a need for a makeover, hair job, new clothes, a bathe, and a whole hell of a lot of face lotion. I would be half tempted to joke the witch needs to set herself on fire and start over, but I'm too busy trying to not have a panic attack.

I kinda wish I had stuck around for more lessons on how to fight or could do better with that force techniques stuff. If I get into a fight the only reflex I got going for me is high tailing it out of here with or without my dignity intact.

We pass by yet another block across the side walk. Ahsoka signals for us to take the left road. Anakin has different ideas as he motions for us to stop and he feels down on the ground. He pulls out a small glow in the dark stick over his lightsaber and brings it down to the found.

"Tracks." He mutters quietly.

Looking closely at it, it is nothing I recognize. Whatever it is had embedded itself in the soil near a dead tree. The 'track' was a group of what looked like three or four holes all closely packed together as one foot, probably by a rod or cylinder shape each.

"Roller?" Ahsoka asks in the same low tone.

"No, their tracks are different… this is… I don't know what it is. A roller rolls, but even when it walks it isn't quite like this. A roller's legs is made up of a single pole like foot. This is like a couple of them bunched together."

"Still a tinny right?"

"Definitely." He acknowledges grimly. "Looks like we are on the right track. Let's keep moving."

Ahsoka leads us on further and it isn't long before we come to a door that is practically glowing. No. Literally. The door is glowing white. It sits in the darkness with a light similar to that of a beacon. We walk into the light slowly, letting our eyes adjust, and look it over closely. There are no marks of any kind over it, there are no panels or buttons or consoles. It's just a door. It is a silver door against black iron-light pipes on either side, almost a rejection of origins. Like whoever built this sector actually built around the door, rather than the door being placed inside the sector.

"I think we found it." I whisper.

"Uh… yeah." Tree-Hugger agrees. "Let's see if there is a way in."

We inspected the door and the surrounding area. It didn't take long because there wasn't jack squat on it. It's a door. There was no cameras, no switches, no door handles, no panels. Just a door. We had yet to walk up to it too closely, but it was fairly obvious there was not going to be any specific way to get in that we could see.

"I'll see if I can find another door. You two be on your guard." Tree-Hugger tells us. He goes into the darkness. Which leaves Ahsoka and I to find out what is so special about the door.

"There must be a way in." Girly wonders out loud.

I shrug. I walk up to the door, only to be pulled back by her. "Not too close, Varus. It might be booby trapped."

"Please…" I groan. "What's the worst that can happen." What's the big deal? I know there is a thin shield around it. It's just a door. I get up to it to peer closely at it. I can't tell why it is glowing, but it is helpful in inspecting it. "Come on, now! Even from this close there isn't a way-"

The door snaps open. Inside, a hovering ball turns its red eye towards us.

"… in." I finish. Ahsoka smacks me upside the back of the head before pushing me to the side.

"Master!" She yells and snaps out her lightsaber. She holds it in her customary backwards position. I do the same and stand beside her. A few seconds later Tree-Hugger is just in front of us both, just outside the doorframe. The room directly in front of us has the orb, a door on the other side, a stack of rods off to the side. The walls of the room has the same overall ancient, perfectly smooth look of silver.

"What did you guys do?" He asks us.

"Ask Varus!" She snaps. Tree-Hugger glances at me disapprovingly, but says nothing. His attention is on the hovering orb. Really mature, girly, minus fifteen. Let's point fingers while there is a hovering ball right in front of us. The ball itself hasn't done anything but look at us, but between the atmosphere behind us, and its glowing red evil eye, it doesn't look friendly.

As if to answer my thought, the orb starts emitting a high pitched noise. The pile of rods shakes wildly, float in the air, then fly to the orb. The rods somehow assort themselves around the orb. They merge, they change in width and length, they break into joints and curl themselves into circles and mini-orbs and other shapes.

After a few seconds of the rods morphing and changing and assorting themselves around the orb; what was a floating orb, is now a walking four legged spider. It becomes too heavy for the orb to continue floating and it crashes to the ground on four legs. The red eye continues to look at us from the center of the robot.

"Just so we're clear." I say slowly. "This isn't my fault." Well, not entirely. How was I supposed to know the door was based on motion detection?

Ignoring my statement, Tree-Hugger says, "Varus, stay behind us. You haven't been tested against blaster fire yet."

As much as I want to deny it and hold my pride, the idea of coming out of this alive is much more glamorous. With the lightsaber still up, I move to get behind him.

The robot reacts to my movement with a blaster bolt from its eye and things start happening. Tree-Hugger blocks it and moves forward slowly. He keeps himself positioned between the droid and me while Ahsoka makes a mad dash to the side of the room around it. The robot continues to pepper my master with fire, all of which either misses or is deflected.

Once Ahsoka is no longer in its line of sight, it backs up hastily to keep an eye on all of us. It starts to fire back and forth between either the girl or my master. One of the deflected bolts hit it in the side, but there appears to be no damage. A piece of its shoulder falls, but is immediately replaced by another rod of raw metal that shifts and morphs into a perfect shape of the prior one. The droid has now moved to the side of the room and I get to cover.

"Snips!" Tree-Hugger barks as he blocks a rapid trio of bolts. "Corner."

"Right-oh!" She responds.

Ahsoka stops her running and instead slowly and methodically moves toward the robot from its right. Tree-Hugger does the same from its left. The robot continues to fire and backup as they come closer and closer until... its stuck in the corner.

"Checkmate." He says, and Ahsoka dives in with a sweep of her blade.

However, instead of cutting the robot, she cuts air as it leaps off the ground onto the wall behind it and walks backwards up the wall.

Great, the thing walks on walls. And ceilings. The droid walks upside on the ceiling. Its center eye spins as though nothing odd is going on and continues to fire on them.

"Ok, new plan." Ahsoka snips. Funny how that is her nickname. She picks up a spare rod lying around from amongst the pile that the droid used to make itself, and throws it at the droid. It manages to wobble it a bit, but nothing substantial.

"How about something more direct then." Tree-Hugger responds. He puts his hand out and instead of grabbing something in the room to throw at the droid, he just cuts to the chase and grabs the droid off the ceiling. The droid squeals in fright and its limbs frantically try to grab something to hold onto. Its eye tries to fire on them, but it is having trouble stabilizing its aim with its chaotic spinning.

My master drops the droid onto its back close to Ahsoka and himself. The droid's body shifts and morphs as its components rapidly turn around in order to compensate and regain its footing, but the two Jedi spring on it. In two swipes it loses three legs.

The droid does the same whistle it did when it first saw us and rods scattered around the room lift off the ground. A second time they fly in its direction, and with its one limb it slowly crawls away. Tree-Hugger and Ahsoka don't see the flying projectiles. their attention is on the droid on the ground.

"Move!" I yell, and the two notice their surroundings in time to duck or jump out of the way.

The new rods join with the robot and it remakes itself. The damages rods separate from the 'dead limbs', and the limbs recycle themselves as new rods.

"Thing doesn't know how to stay down." Ahsoka mutters.

While the droid continues to flee from them while repairing itself, Tree-Hugger takes a quick note of their surroundings. "It is using the rods to repair itself and give itself form... There are plenty of rods left. We need to get this over with or cut down every rod at its disposal... Ok, Snips! Run around cutting its reserves! I'll deal with it."

"Ok!" She runs off to a pile of rods to cleave them all at once. With that done she finds another pile, and also cuts up a few that are rolling across the floor.

The droid notices and focuses its fire on her only for Tree-Hugger to stand in its way and push it back continually.

"All done!" She yells a few seconds later. Tree-Hugger lifts the droid off the ground and throws it at her. She swipes up, catching it in midair, and cleaves off two of its legs before swiping down on the limbs to keep them from being recycled.

Tree-Hugger brings his saber down on the robots last remaining limbs, and with nothing left to protect its head, stabs it. The droid screams in pain and dies with a sputter.

With all movement ceased, I step out and ask, "What was that thing?"

Tree-Hugger shrugs and stoops down to inspect it closer. I look to Ahsoka and she returns an apologetic shrug as well. They have no idea. It was a droid, but not one they have encountered before.

"Think it's a new class of tinny?" Girly asks him.

Tree-Hugger looks up at her question and studies the battlefield. Cut rods lie everywhere. "If it is, our scientists will want a look at it. No, they will want a look regardless, actually... It's doesn't bear the usual hardware of Separatists."

"That's strange?" I ask.

"All droids are made in select models by select hard ware companies. Its basic procedure in mass produced battle droids of all classes, especially. They - blah blah blah - with models proven to be tested. You don't just go to a random technician, expect new hardware out of the blue, and - blah blah blah -oduced by the millions. Not without a whole lot of field testing and company compliance. That's just good business sense." Tree-Hugger explains as though it's the most basic thing in the world.

Right, whatever. I got the first sentence. The rest was unnecessary.

"Let's keep moving before too many people notice us." Our master stands and pats the dirt off his pants.

"Right... That's why there isn't an alarm going off." I say like a smartass. Not sure what that is meant to express in our current situation, but hey, they should be used to my mouth by now.

"Then let's keep it that way." He acknowledges. We head for the door and it opens on its own.

There are about a dozen orbs that turn and look at us in the next hall. The alarm goes off.

Ahsoka smacks me upside the head.

They all emit the usual rod-calling-whistle, and Tree-Hugger sighs while pinching the top of his nose. "Varus, go call for reinforcements."

I don't need to be told twice.

Anakin from the campfire to see General Rahm Kota and about thirty clones enter the area. The fight with the floating-ball-droids, or 'Rodders' as they decided to call them, had gone fairly well. He had a burn on his shoulder, but nothing beyond that. After that they scouted further, cautiously, hacked a terminal for data, and fell back to the front door just out of the light, just in case there was anything to watch them. It had been about an hour ago.

"General." Anakin shook Kota's hand and nodded to the following clones. Kota had a deep unapprovingly look in his eye. It was probably from being forced to come to his aid with clones of all things. Rahm Kota was one of the many Jedi who disapproved of the use of clones. His reason wasn't necessarily the idea of slaves and a slave army, but he just flat out preferred his handpicked band over anything else. He was known for being verbal about his opinions of a 'factory produced' army, whether it be droids, clones, or the public regular army boot camp.

"Skywalker." The man returned Anakin's handshake firmly and lightened up. "Master Windu sends his regards. I take it whatever 'sneaking' you planned on doing didn't go as planned?"

Anakin could blame Varus for messing it up, but he knew there wasn't much the boy could do about it. After further scouting and analyzing the schematics, he found there was in fact only one door to the facility. One way in, one way out. Not much sneaking around that. That meant that whatever was inside, hopefully Darth Sidius, would know they were coming, but also meant that whatever was inside could not get out.

"There is only one door. Unless you and your 'band' can turn invisible, we have to go about this the old fashioned way. I originally wanted a team of Jedi Master's, but they are occupied with the war…"

"Gooood." Kota breathed with a wide smile. "Sounds like fun. More for us then."

Anakin raised an eyebrow at him. "Pardon me, General, but we shouldn't be looking forward to bloodshed. It is something I hope to minimize." Anakin stressed coldly his point. The last thing a Jedi should want is combat. They are either pacifist or defensive in nature, and should always be. For a Jedi to seek combat out, to fall into his own emotions… it is the path to losing control.

For a force user, losing control was far more than a normal person. A regular Joe can lose his temper and break his fingers, only to have it be nursed by a doctor. A force user loses his temper tends to make buildings explode, pillars fall, and if they are in a populated planet: people die.

It is not the temper itself that turns a Jedi into a Sith. It is the mark of death. The fact that they have murdered and can never pay it back. You cannot take back the death of a stranger, you cannot turn back time on your mistakes… you cannot stop the death of a loved one.

Time has a thing for never stopping to let you look back. If you stop to look back, it rolls over you like a winged rhino, and then you can never escape.

Of course, any security enforcement charging you for murder or accidental manslaughter is a one way ticket to being shunned, then being outcast either in self-perspective or literally, and the Dark Side hungers for those who are alone.

The path to falling into Sith is broken down into a lot more individual steps than people think. Skywalker knows, he took the first few steps and pulled back in time.

"Of course, your right. Let's not lose any more of your wet-boys than necessary." The General sighed. Anakin held his gaze firmly to make sure his point was understand, and in the old General's eyes he saw understanding. It was understanding crusted in a lifetime of urban warfare on various worlds, but he still understood in some ways just as much as Anakin did. There was a difference between the hunter and the defender.

Kota strolled over to Varus and Ahsoka to greet them. Anakin watched him go. He was tough, unorthodox, and... actually a lot like Varus. It's a wonder the two didn't seem to get along.

As if to prove his thoughts right, Varus and Kota were already fighting over nonsense. Kota demanded respect as an elder instead of being given a stupid nickname, and Varus told him to shove it, loudly. And that was just how it started. It quickly derailed into a fight where Varus was cursing at him and General Kota was trying to wrestle him to the ground.

One of the clones stepped forward, one marked with the colors of a Corporal while the rest were that of Privates.

"Hard Nose battalion of the 502nd, ready to blast us some, clankers, General!" He said firmly.

"Very Good." Anakin responded firmly, then hesitated. "Why 'Hard Nose'?"

"Because I beat a clanker down with my face once, Sir!... It had my gun pinned... kind of a running joke from above." He explained quietly by the end.

Anakin chuckled, "Well, you won't need to be doing any of that here, Corporal. Assign guards to the door. We need to go over our strategy."

"Why do I get the feeling we are short one man in this strategy of yours?" Rahm Kota mused from where he stood. He leaned against a ruined pillar from where he could see both the door and the holographic map Anakin presented.

Anakin looked up to him from behind the hologram, and Kota nudged his head in Varus's direction. The lad was pouting to the side just inside the light. The boy's ears also lit like fire. Clearly he was listening.

Anakin sighed and briefly narrowed his eyes at his counterpart. He didn't want to be put in this position, least of all directly and bluntly for all to know. "Varus is impulsive, untrained, and has the subtlety of a rancor. To fight these things, especially on our first 'encounter' we must be tightly firm, have strong teamwork, and not get in over our heads. Granted, he might be able to bring up the rear even with these… traits…" Anakin shook his head mostly to himself. "But I cannot support the addition of a soldier, especially a Jedi, who cannot defend himself against blaster fire."

"So you'd rather isolate him then?" The General barreled through his point like… like… a Varus.

I swear by the Force these two are twins… Anakin thought. He returned his argument with restraint. "It is not my intention to isolate, nor is that an affect. The fact is that this is not a simulation. I am responsible for not just his training, but also his life! This is a true battle."

Bah!" The general waved it aside like a dirty rag. "True battle is the only true training! I was in combat since I was seven! I was on the run since I… no, since I was born! Let him come, it'll be good for him."

Varus clearly lightened up.

"No. I repeat, he has never blocked a single blaster! Not in training, not in simulation, and not in-"

Kota pulled out a pistol and fired it at Varus's back. Varus jumped up and with a 'sizzzzz' sent the blaster bolt flying to the side. Kota fired a few more shots and Varus either evaded them desperately or blocked them.

"What is wrong with you!?" Varus barked. "You could have killed me!"

Kota dropped his pistol in Anakin's stunned lap and said, "One surprise shot blocked, and twelve ones he saw coming. Seven evaded, rest blocked. Plus his body knew to not send them back at us. 125% score I'd say."

"YOU ARE A DIMENTED PIECE OF-!" Varus yelled angrily.

"As I mentioned before, there is only one way out." Anakin told the troops. He gestured behind him. "This door. There may be hidden exits, but my hack found nothing. The place is sealed tight. This is both a blessing and a curse. Whoever is inside will not escape but at the same time we cannot use much strategy or movement. There is no path to the walls opposite of us in the complex for us to break through without a lot of drilling. At the end of it all, our enemy knows we are coming, and from where. We are at a disadvantage."

"We will be fighting on their home turf." Rahm Kota acknowledged.

"We will." Anakin nodded.

With a motion to Ahsoka to take her turn, she stood up and transitioned through screens on the holoprojector until a ball form appeared in front of them all. "This ball shape is the 'baller' droid we have encountered inside. There are no other droids as of yet."

The projector shifted to show the baller with a number of metal rods flying around it in an orb. "The ball is the core of the droid, and it has a power over gravitation and magnetism. Due to this it can float, fly, and move in midair with grace. It also can do the same with special metal rods that are stashed nearby."

The hologram droid then joined the rods together around it to create a spider shape. "The purpose of the rods are many. It acts as a kind of armor and gives a form to the droids overall shape that gives it strength. This secondary form is a 'spider' class and- "

"They may or may not be able to create additional forms besides just the 'spider' class." Anakin interrupted. Ahsoka rolled her eyes.

He motioned for her to continue with an open hand, "Of course there may be more forms to deal with, but the 'spider' is the only one we have seen. It has increased maneuverability, but is affected by gravity. Probably too heavy to afford devoting extra power to the gravitation field. It is small, about… two by two by one?"

"Sounds about right." Anakin agreed.

"Ok, so its small. It moves fast, can climb up walls, and skitter across ceilings; all the while shooting at you. It has enough processing power to be able to move and fire at the same time in different directions. From the size it can probably hide in vents and corners easily."

The visual changed to Jedi cutting the droid. More rods flew to it and it quickly repaired itself and left behind damaged rods. "The rods are the key to its defense. It doesn't use shields, but instead relies on a raw shell. The rods can change shape to conform to what is necessary like liquid, even replace each other. Damaging a rod makes it un-usuable, but the droid can replace it given a brief time."

The Corporal raised his hand. "How would we punch through it then, sir?"

Anakin spoke up, "The rods are not infinite, at the same time every droid in the area shares the same stockpile of these rods. As much as I want to say there is a direct weakness to bypass the rods and make it easy, the fact is you may need to burn their armor down before you can get to the droid itself inside. A trick to it is to destroy their stockpile. A grenade or explosive of some kind is extremely effective."

A clone punched his fist into the palm of his hand. "Sounds like my kinda droid." He had a rocket launcher on his back and about a dozen grenades on his chest straps and waist. More than half of them looked like custom made improvised grenades, rather than the standard off-the-press ones. He was a walking explosion waiting to happen. Private Monner, Anakin recalled his name was.

"Do not underestimate them." Anakin assured them fiercely. "What the Confederacy pumps out are dummy droids. They know only 'see monkey', 'shoot monkey', 'charge monkey'. Whatever is waiting for us in there is a different class of its own. It understands evasion, objectives, protecting its resources, and generally may prove to be a pain in the neck. The only real thing keeping it from being too difficult is their lack of extreme numbers and firepower. Also not being invisible or use blaster-absorbing energy shields is a nice addition." He joked.

Not much of a joke, but things like that did happen a few times. A shield that sucks the energy out of lightsabers and blasters is not one he much liked dealing with. Once was enough. Thankfully the odds of encountering one of those special Confederate droids was smaller than the odds of being struck by lightning.

The hologram ended and the Corporal stood. "Ok boys! They may be tough clanka's, but they are still just clanka's! Mow them down like all the rest!"

"Hoorah!" They cried.

Anakin looked to Varus and noted how the young man watched the clones in awe. Why couldn't a bit of that pass his way? Oh well, time to get dirty. "You ready, Padawans?"

Ahsoka wiped the dirt off her skirt and wrapped her arms together, clearly ready. Varus stood and smiled darkly. It sent chills down his spine. "I was born ready."

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