"Stones in the Force"

by Eoraptor

T for Teen

All characters Property of the Walt Disney Company / LucasFilm. This is a not-for-profit fan work under fare use.

After about ten minutes of sitting in Shego's seething silence, Kim had taken about all she could stand. "Fine, sit up here and cool off. I'll be below."

Shego's response was a disgruntled snort.

The redheaded human made her way back down to the troop deck and sighed heavily. She grabbed a hand strap and spun herself around to take a seat next to the ARC commander.

After a moment, the blue-armored Clone turned, inclining his head, "Is it true, Possible, what they say about you?"

Kim paused, noting he hadn't called her Miss… She wondered of Captain Rex had briefed them on her 'titular peculiarities.' Shaking her head after a moment, she turned to look the commander in the eye. "Is what true? People say a lot of things about me, Commander."

He smirked, another oddity amongst the Clone Army in her experience. "I suppose they do. Like that you move like a Jedi, but have no access to the Force… or that you turn as red as a Togruta southerner when someone says nice things about you."

Kim blushed a bit at that, and the Commander nodded. "Yes, that. But what I am asking is, is it true that you've never lost a single unit under your command?"

"Well, I don't know that I've ever led an entire unit," the redhead smiled, and then paused, "Oh, you mean any men at all."

Shaking her head at the idea of these people thinking themselves little more than units, she sighed, "No, no one has ever been killed on my missions. And I intend to keep it that way."

"And your counterpart? How is her record?"

Kim frowned, chewing her lip. Most of Shego's "record" was as a villain. After a long moment of reflection, she felt she could say with confidence at least this much, "She's never gotten anybody killed."

"Well, I'll take you at your word, Possible." The lead ARC nodded.

"So, what do I call you? I understand the ARC's all have names, if I remember my classified briefings correctly." Kim smiled her most winning smile, trying to get the topic off of her volatile counterpart.

"ARC Alpha 42," He smiled, nodding, "But my friends call me Mal."

"Alright Mal," Kim nodded, "Can you tell me anything about these advanced droids of General Grievous? I've never fought them before…"

The commander pulled up a small holographic display on his gauntlet, yet another piece of what Kim thought of as elite tech for this elite squad. It showed a humanoid looking robot, surprisingly, in some sort of cloak and holding not a blaster, but a staff.

"This is an IG series 100 MagnaDroid." Mal indicated the shimmering blue-green projection. "Although they are all physically identical, each one has heuristic learning abilities and many of them are specially 'trained' in specific forms of weapon or combat. The ones Grievous employs almost all engage hand-to-hand."

"Trained?" Kim inclined her head at the odd phrasing.

"Yes, they learn by example and experience, pretty much like a living being does." The commander nodded as he flicked a button on his projector and shifted to an animated display, "And they have no shortage of dirty tricks. We've seen them shoot rockets out of their backs, darts out of their wrists, walk and crawl across ceilings with magnetic hands and feet; hell, one of the things even had extensor-arms and legs that quadrupled in length."

Kim watched the animations on the grainy transparent display. She'd heard that these things were bad news, but actually seeing them made it seem more like a mechanical nightmare. They moved and leapt and jinked just like an excellent human fighter, but their limbs could bend backwards or spin around like a machine.

Beside her, Mal continued his impromptu briefing, "They are two meters tall in their normal configuration, and most of their key systems are armored with duranium, meaning anything short of a precise hit to a joint or sensor won't even slow them down. And even if they do slow down, they rarely stop. These things can continue to come at you even if only thirty percent of their body is intact. They have stereo optic sensors on their heads, and a high resolution multi-spectral on their torso."

Kim shivered. So they were big, fast, tough, and even if you cut them up they kept squirming… sheesh.

"Grievious's personal guards also carry special Jedi pig stickers…" the ARC commander shook his closely-shorn head, "electro-staffs with single or dual ends, and shafts made of phrik alloy."

"Phrik?" Kim inclined her head again, "some kind of super metal?"

Mal nodded and leaned forward. He came up with a wickedly barbed blade that had been secreted in his armored right boot, "This is my instructor's dagger. It's made of Phrik. It's tough pug. Lighter than duranium, but it'll stop just about anything as long as it's laid on right."

Kim looked at the hooked and curved blade. It was a dark sort of blue gunmetal color, but it was the metal itself, not any sort of paint or coating. "Anything?"

"They call these things Jedi Slayers for a reason, Possible… a lightsaber can't cut through their staffs." The trooper shook his head, re-sheathing his knife. "Up till now, we've had the advantage; because it takes months or even years, to teach these bloody droids, and they're expensive as frack to build. But if the separatists got a way to mass-produce them the way they stamp out B1s and B2s, well the war will be over in a matter of weeks."

Kim frowned, chewing her lip and nodding. This was some serious drama for the Republic. After a moment, her head snapped up, a look of drastic concern on her face, "Wait, lightsabers can't cut through Phrik?"

"Well, 'ey can, but it takes either a huge amount of force, or a good long burn." The ARC nodded.

The redhead scowled. Shego couldn't get out of her Mandolorian cuffs either, and those were just restraints, not weapons. Oh, this was so the drama…

"Well, Possible," the ARC commander began the mission briefing in earnest, "We can definitely expect the facility to be guarded heavily. There will be Vulture Droids and Hyena bombers, but we shouldn't need to worry about those, as they won't want to call in close air support on their own facilities."

"Beyond that," He continued, "We can expect the full suite of B series droids… Possibly also one of the new super-tactical droids as well. And of course, Grievous and Dooku's Magna-guard units. I doubt there will be any destroyer droids though; again, because of the sensitive nature of the development work going on. Our intel on the facility does list three turret gun emplacements at the apexes of the walls. The entire facility is laid out in a triangle."

Kim frowned. She'd never faced the lethal Magna robots in combat… but she'd heard horror stories about them now from the ARCs. She had faced the big B2 series droids though. They were definitely troublesome, more heavily armored than the typical tinker-toy style droids that the Clone troopers referred to generally as "clankers." The redhead went to the weapons locker and pulled out an electrostaff.

This had become her weapon of choice in the past few months, along with a petite blaster pistol she kept in the small of her back. She knew that the Magna's used these staffs as well, now, though apparently in a modified version with that exotic metal. "Alright, so expect heavy resistance if we're found. At least the EMP grenades will be getting a workout."

"EMP, Ma'am?" one of the subordinate ARCs piped up as he examined the holographic layout.

"Electromagnetic Pulse. You all call them shockers or droid poppers." She shrugged. "I'd say we pack as many as we can each. What about organic personnel?"

"Probably some Geonosians, maybe some Toydarian materials merchants. But in truth, we're unlikely to find many living troops." The commander advised, "Intel reports that Grievous and Dooku are employing a few archaic Mark IV and V architect droids to do the design work on the Magna-B hybrids."

"You mean the same type as Huyang, the light saber droid?" Kim tilted her head in curiosity.

"Something like that." the commander nodded, "They can be cantankerous, but few droids have as much freedom or creativity, since they haven't been built in over 900 years. They're also fairly capable in hand-to-hand combat, and the Series IV's have four arms, so I'd recommend if you come across one, let the snipers take it from a distance. My buddy Fives reported that Huyang was able to kick-box after his head and primary arms were lopped off, which means they are almost as troublesome as Magna's for trying to take down."

"I've packed a heavy duty pulse bomb," Kim reported as she paced the deck, spinning her electrostaff in the narrow confines, "It's meant to wipe the foundry's computers, but in a pinch we can use it to shut down the heavy droids I suppose."

"Aye… we'll keep it in mind," the company's sapper nodded, casting his synthetic blue eyes to the octagonal bomb in the corner.

"Which brings us to Grievous himself, what do you know about him Possible?" the Commander shook his head.

"Not a lot. I know that he's a mostly-machine cyborg, and has a very nasty reputation." she shook her head as she continued to pace.

"That he is and does. He collects lightsabers from slain Jedi, if that gives you any idea. He's known to carry at least four on him at any one time." The lead clone reported, "Stands nearly three meters tall when fully extended, and his arms can split, resulting in six limbs total, all of which can be used as hands or feet. His body is covered in polycerile armor plates which are difficult to pierce with anything short of a sniper rifle or lightsaber. The General is also a tactical genius and a skilled pilot, and though he prefers to use his captured sabers, he's not above blasters. In all honesty… Only a few Master Jedi have survived combat with that monster."

Kim shivered. The only reason she had been able to stand against a Jedi was because they were blinded to her movements by their reliance on the mystical force. To think of an eight foot tall monster man with four arms who killed them was… disturbing.

"Then there is Count Dooku," The lead clone continued his briefing, ignoring her expression, "He's a fallen Jedi, a master swordsman, and powerful in the dark side of the force. We know that he can throw, levitate, and choke with the force, as well as hurl lightning and move even massive objects. He's extremely cool under fire, and not prone to making mistakes. We've all seen you fight and kill even the commando droids, so you might have a chance against Grievous or the Magnas… but if you find yourself cornered by the Count, I'd advise a quick retreat, Ma'am."

The redhead frowned at that. She didn't think she'd ever heard a Clone recommend running away, let alone the legendary ARC commandos. Still, she knew that she was immune to the common force tricks. Only the force lightning seemed able to touch her. And well, Shego could catch a lightsaber in her bare hands apparently, so she was probably even better suited.

And then the ginger light stone realized she was going to have to go back up to the flight deck and relay all this to Shego, along with additional information that Kim had earned by experience in the past few months, like how to disable the heavy shielded roller droids and how to easily confuse the mentally deficient B1's.

Slipping up the narrow steps from the passenger hold to the flight deck, Kim tried not to dwell on the childish behavior that necessitated this. This was a critical military mission, but Shego's phobia had her running back and forth with messages as though it was a spat between mommy and daddy.

Taking a breath past clenched teeth, the redheaded stone thumbed the door control. It snapped open crisply and swiftly, admitting her to the control area of the shuttle with Shego and the android pilot.

"I take it you're here with an intelligence briefing?" the dark stone didn't even look up, sitting in the co-pilot's seat and slowly honing her talons with a carbide file.

Biting back a smart retort, Kim strode across the short distance to the seat, "Yes. You ready to hear it?"

"Depends," Shego still didn't look up from her task, "Do you have more for me than just 'lots of robots and some blaster canons'?"

Pursing her lips, Kim breathed through her nose slowly. "Yes… I have schematics, troop estimates, a rough floor plan, everything except guard schedules it seems."

As she stood next to the chair, the redhead noted the ex-villain's demeanor. She'd seen Shego be given both rants and battle plans in the past, watching her from hiding places in Drakken's lairs. Typically she was either pointedly disinterested and dismissive, or snarky and demeaning of what she was hearing.

But right now, she was indifferent, merely listening as she filed and honed the tools on her gloves.

Considering the difference, the heroine frowned, shaking her head. Ever since she had learned of the nature of the clone army, Shego had been completely sketchy with this clone-o-phobia of hers.

Resting a hand on her shoulder, Kim tried to reassure her of the good nature of the army, "Shego, look-,"

"Take that hand off before I break it off, cheerleader," the mercenary thief growled lowly. "I'm not some little kid who needs comforted. Give me the briefing so I can tell you all the ways in which your meat puppets' plan sucks."

Bristling at the dismissal, Kim withdrew her hand. Reaching past Shego, she flicked a control on the panel before them, calling up a display of the facility.

"Fine. It's a walled fortress with a factory and two warehouses, as well as a landing area for transports; all laid out in a triangle. Heavy turbo-laser emplacements at the points on turrets with elevation and traverse that gives them total coverage of the area. Mal expects a full battalion of droid soldiers, with overflights by probably six fighter-bomber droids." She outlined the wire-frame on the small screen before them, lacking the nice holographic display of the hold or one of the trooper's wrist units.

"A battalion," Shego considered the diagram, "So I take it a frontal assault is right out."

"Exactly," the light stone confirmed, "An all-out assault would tell them we're aware of what they are up to, and give them time to transfer or destroy schematics and prototypes, as well as evacuate the high-value Generals we're after.

"Mal want's to make entry here," Kim outlined a section of the schematic near one of the apexes of the walls. "It's the location of the outflow for the limited waste facility serving the few organic beings on the base. It's just wide enough for a person to traverse-,"

"It's a friggin sewer," Shego cut her off with a disgusted face, "Your puppet wants us to go in through the sewer; Just say it, Princess."

"FINE," Kim scowled at the interruption, "It's a sewer. The base is populated by like ninety-five percent robots, meaning they should overlook a low-traffic waste pipe that is only opened once a day or so. Other than that there's no way in through the walls; everything is brought in by air, right past the turrets. There's no gates, no hatches, no doors."

"Who builds a factory with no way in or out?" the villainess scoffed.

"Someone who wants to make sure nobody gets in or out without being checked, and who are only building prototypes," Kim shook her head. "Top secret war-changing prototypes."

"I should have watched more 'I Love Hitler' week on the Knowledge Channel," Shego lamented, "Top secret super-weapons were right up his alley."

Kim smiled slightly to herself. Acerbic observations were much more Shego's speed. Obviously she was feeling a tiny bit better, "I don't disagree. But there it is. If we try to land, or punch a hole in the wall, the game will be up before it starts."

"Punch a hole… punch a hole…" Shego considered the plan she had been presented, "Why don't we do just that? This place sitting on the surface, right?"

"Y-yeah?" Kim tilted her head, not sure what the dark stone was getting at.

"And you said it was a top secret prototype facility," the villainess surmised as she looked at the wire-frame. "So I doubt they spent a lot of time laying out a concrete or whatever pad under the building. Why don't we just tunnel in?"

Considering the diagram, the redhead frowned, chewing her lower lip, "We don't have any tunneling equipment."

"I AM tunneling equipment," Shego held up her hand, igniting it.

"And I'm not sure how deep the walls might be sunk." The light stone studied the battle plan, "Plus, how long would we have to stand on the surface while you carved a hole? We might be seen…"

Snorting irritably, Shego indicated the plans, "This thing supposedly sits at the head of a mountain valley. Should be plenty of cover for you and your meat monsters while I work. As long as its not solid bedrock, it shouldn't be any great shakes. Just need a gas mask and a hood to shield my eyes from vaporized gas. Assuming these are slat-walls, like they look, and not planted more than five or six feet deep, I could be through in ten minutes and your pets should have free run to enter without trying to sneak in through a guarded sewer."

"They are NOT-," Kim's ire rose at the derisive tone before she caught herself, "Fine, you think it will work? I'll ask Mal what he thinks."

"Yeah, fine, ask your meat monster for his approval." Shego snorted, "All I know is this how I'm going in. I ain't crawling down a damned sewer pipe. With a bunch of tin can carbon copies. Who would shoot me in the back as soon as look at me. To a sewer grate that is probably guarded anyway."

Kim threw up her hands in irritation and stormed off the flight deck. "WHATEVER!"

AN: So this is the latest bits. Firstly, again this is a fairly rought stream-of-consciousness type of writing, not my more polished stuff. barely edited.

I have to say I'm a bit surprised at the comments. : ) In truth I never intended Shego's clone phobia. But as I was coming to the bit in the first chapter where they meet Palpatine, I realized that between the invisibility in the force, the grabbing lightsabers, the magical saber prototype, and of course all of Shego's inherent skills, that I may have made her too Mary Sue. Rather than going back and reworking an eighteen thousand word installment, I decided to give her something to hobble her up. Glad that it went over so well.

And remember, Reviews/Comments = Love, andSharing is Caring.