This idea has been in my head for a long time now, probably since I watched the Seleucami-arc. Those two episodes are two of my favorites in the whole series, and I just love the conflict between Obi-Wan and Grievous. So pitting them against each other on a remote planet, with few resources to work with, and see just who would come out on top seemed like an awesome idea, and I just wanted to develop this a little further. Naturally, this borrows heavily from said arc, as well as from the episodes "Jedi Crash" and "Defenders of peace". Also, this is set shortly after the Ryloth-arc, just so that I can have good ol' Waxer and Boil in there.

Prologue

-If Grievous' mechanical face would have been capable of smiling, he would have done so now. He had risen from his command chair on the bridge of his flagship and was watching the carnage through the reinforced windows. His eyes shone with cruel satisfaction.

-In front of him, the Silencer's turbolasers tore the Republican Acclamator Cruisers to shreds. Their weak shields had not been able to withstand the concentrated fire for more than mere moments and now parts of their hulls were ripped clean off with every successful hit. Easy prey.

-It always amazed him how confident they could be in their victory. As if nothing could harm them after another day of noble deeds. Well, the shattered hulks of the two cruisers in front of him were proof to the contrary. He chuckled: They had actually left Ryloth's atmosphere without any form of escort, confident that no one would dare assault them so near a newly conquered Republican planet. They would never learn.

-While he watched, the first cruiser broke in two under heavy explosions; a cloud of gas, metal and bodies erupting into the vacuum. He stared at the underside of the destroyed ship: No escape pods. A pity; he had looked forward to the hunt. Well, there was still the second ship…

-The second cruiser had managed to make a turn away from the Separatist battleship, with the only success that its engines were now exposed. His tactical droid, who had assumed command while the General enjoyed the view, seized the opportunity immediately; and soon parts of the engines were just debris in the atmosphere, leaving the cruiser dead in space.

-At this point, he could just let gravity take care of it. Why not, he decided, let's give them a few moments of hope. The complete lack of resistance had actually been quite disappointing; it was time to make this a little more interesting. He gestured to one of his droids: "Cease firing and deploy the fighters. A third around the upper hangar, the others below the ship."

-"Roger roger."

-The vulture droids swarmed out of the hangars and took their positions around the carcass of the Republican ship. How poetic, he mused. It was already losing altitude; soon it would make contact with Ryloth's upper atmosphere. Whoever was in command over there, he was running out of time. Come on, send out those gunships. You know you want to…

-And there they were, leaving through the lower hangar, as anticipated. The vultures were already on them. Red lasers illuminated the hull as the first ships were destroyed on their desperate flight to the planet's surface. No escape pods yet, but those would doubtless come in time, once they thought his fighters were distracted. He coughed. Too predictable…

-Then he noticed something strange: A few gunships had gotten through his fighters, yet they were not making for the safety of the planet. Rather, a group of twenty ships or so was heading straight for his flagship, pursued by about double the number of vultures.

-His eyes narrowed. Maybe they were hoping his ship would not fire while it could hit its on fighters? If that was what they were doing, they were even more naïve than he had thought. He didn't even need to give commands; his droids were already angling the cannons in line with the approaching ships…

-"Sir" a battle droid reported from his station, "we have intercepted a transmission from one of the gunships to the surface."

-"And?" A call for help, what of it?

-The droid hesitated: "You might want to see this…"

-He coughed in irritation. "Put it through."

-On the holo-platform appeared a man, dressed in long robes, holding on to something inside the gunship. He seemed to be looking directly at Grievous, even though that was clearly just a communicator in his hand. He was speaking intently into it: "Call Skywalker back, immediately! Our ship is doomed. We will attempt to board the Separatist vessel to give the crew a chance to evacuate, but send reinforcements as soon as possible!" The man seemed to momentarily loose his balance and the transmission faltered for a second. He grimaced: "We might need them. Kenobi, out."

-The general ground his metal knuckles. That was a completely unexpected turn. Kenobi, what a nice coincidence. You have grown reckless, he mused with a look to the destroyed cruisers. Just now, the first escape pods could be seen launching from the burning ship. So, the Jedi wanted to play, did he?

-"Abandon chase of the gunships!" he ordered. "Concentrate all firepower on those escape pods. And assemble every available droid around the main hangar."

-"Sir, by my calculations, those gunships carry a battalion of clones, most likely including tanks. We are able to shoot most of them down now…"

-The stare the tactical droid received was enough to make the other droids turn their heads away very quickly. Their general's temper was infamous; they had no intention to be accidental casualties.

-"As you command, general" the droid replied stiffly. He turned around to give the orders.

-"Sir, the fighters have turned around; they are pursuing the pods. And the flagship is just sitting there!" The pilot's voice sounded like he couldn't quite believe it.

-The clone commander nodded and looked at his general: "Looks like you were right, sir. He really wants you alive."

-Obi-Wan Kenobi laughed: "Do remind him of that, please, he continues to give me murderous vibes whenever I see him." His grin faltered: "This time he surprised me. Let's see if we can't outsmart him in return."

-"I really hope they don't mess it up" Cody said doubtfully. "Only half of the crew are clones, the others might panic when they see we are shooting empty pods into space."

-"They only have to hold out for a moment. Anakin is going to arrive to evacuate them in time, if everything goes right."

-"Which leaves us with the task to keep Grievous occupied on his own ship." Cody added. Obi-Wan nodded in confirmation.

-Tense silence returned to the filled gunship. The clones barely moved at all, only to check their blasters and HUDs. Then: "If I may ask, sir, what is our plan once we are on the ship?"

-That earned him a grimace: "Don't tell Skywalker about this, but I think the plan is Improvising."

-"We pick up the signatures of three Republic Cruisers, approaching through hyperspace behind us", his tactical droid informed him. "They won't be too happy about this." he added with a rare dose of sarcasm.

-"Hold the position" the general snarled, his eyes fixed on the approaching gunships.

-"Escape pods have been destroyed, general."

-Grievous nodded, only half listening. His mind was running the equations: How fast could the ships reach them? He needed every single one to be on board to be certain.

-"Republic fleet has exited hyperspace."

-"Skywalker has arrived" the pilot informed them.

-"How about that? He's early for a change."

-"Shall we break off the attack? Now that the cruisers are here…"

-Obi-Wan spoke firmly into the communicator: "Hold the course, pilot!"

-"General, the enemy ship is powering up its hyperdrive!" the captain called from his trench on the bridge.

-"As if we'd let them!" The young Togruta sounded angry and she was fidgeting; clearly she would have preferred to be in her starfighter right now.

-Anakin's smile was short-lived; he could see that they might have actually come too late: "Will we, Captain?"

-"Turbolasers are charging, but it will take a while. We might cut it close."

-Kenobi's gunship was one of the first to pass the hangar shields. There was a short trembling as it passed from the vacuum of space into the air-filled interior of the ship, before the pilot stabilized it. Cody released the safety catch on his blaster, simultaneously to his brothers. The familiar rush of anxiety set in as they got into positions. A blue lightsaber hummed to live and illuminated the interior.

-Red light turned to green. They stormed out the door, blasters cocked. He got a droid in his sights and shot it down before it could even raise its weapon, all the while keeping an eye on his HUD. There were not as many droids here as he had expected…

-"Republic forces have landed in the hangar." The tactical droid's voice was emotionless.

-"Hyperdrive ready." another droid reported.

-The last of the gunships vanished from his sight. "We have them! Prepare for lightspeed." he ordered triumphantly.

-"Turbolasers charged and ready!"

-"Target the engines, and hurry!" He had a bad feeling about this. Why haven't they jumped yet?

-"Hangar secured, general."

-"Good work, Cody. Send some of your men to disable the hyperdrive, we…" A loud noise interrupted him. Everyone froze as a metallic screeching sounded through the hangar. Then a tremor went through the ship, causing the soldiers to reach for the nearest steady object in order not to lose their footing. Slowly, the screeching turned into a low rumbling. The clones were already back on their feet, scanning the area for danger. The general threw Cody a glance, if he had any idea what just happened. In response, the commander simply pointed over his shoulder. When Obi-Wan looked out the hangar doors, the Ryloth-System had vanished, replaced by blurred lines of light.

-Anakin and Ahsoka stared at the empty space where the Destroyer had been a moment ago. For a few seconds, the turbolasers kept firing into nothingness, then they stopped, too. The bridge of the Resolute, brimming with hurried commands up to now, went utterly silent.

-Anakin looked around slowly. "Please tell me we have their coordinates?" he asked to no one in particular.