General Grievous is, without a doubt, my favourite Star Wars character.
Basically, it's because of the four lightsabers. Once I finally watched Clone Wars chapter 20, however, that favouritism was implanted.
You'll see why below, in this novelisation – my first Star Wars novelization – of the events involving the General on Hypori.
The lifeless hand of Jedi Master Daakman Barrek slumped to the floor, his holo-projector tumbling across the packed ground of Hypori.
An image appeared above it, the blued-figure of Obi-Wan Kenobi. "Come in!" he yelled desperatly. "Master Barrek! Come in!"
The General snorted inwardly at the sight of the Jedi and he lunged forwards, keeping himself out of the field of view of the projector as he crushed it beneath his metal claws.
He looked up to see the B2's marching towards the wreck of the crashed Aclammator, firing their wrist blasters, and allowed himself a moment of satisfaction. After the Jedi Master he'd just killed had discovered the Separatists' droid foundry on the planet, he'd called in backup, having failed to discover the orbital mines that the General had set up. The ship had gone down, and then the sheer numbers of the General's troops had finished the job.
He so preferred the more heavily armoured B2 units, much better than those useless B1's. Especially when augmented by a backup group of homing spider droids.
When the super battle droids had encircled the Aclammator entirely, the General raised his six-fingered, clawed hand, signalling for his troops to stop. His white and blue cape billowed in the wind as he lowered his hand and looked at the downed ship with hungry eyes.
He could see shadows darting among the ruins as the surviving Jedi dashed around, no doubt regrouping and wondering why the attack had stopped.
Once again, the General allowed himself to feel satisfaction.
Jedi Master Ki-Adi Mundi was closer than the General thought, but he's wasn't close enough to see he Separatist General.
"Why have they stopped?" he whispered to himself in surprise as he peeked around a fragment of debris.
"Master?" asked the voice of fellow Cerean Jedi Taar Seirr.
Ki-Adi quickly signalled with his hand. "Go. Go!" he whispered urgently.
As soon as Seirr had covered a reasonable distance, Ki-Adi joined him, racing towards the yawning gap into the broken interior of the Aclammator.
Four other Jedi, along with Seirr waited for him; Togruta group fighter Shaak Ti, Twi'lek Aayla Secura, powerful Whipid K'Kruhk, and Barrek's nervous Padawan, Sha'a Gi.
None of them were completely unscathed – Ki-Adi himself had his right sleeve torn open, while both Shaak Ti and Sha'a were in a severe state of depression. Even the powerful K'Kruhk was on one knee, panting heavily in exertion, lightsaber in his grasp.
"Unstoppable," the Whipid gasped. "He is...unstoppable."
Shaak Ti clearly agreed. "Never have we been outmanoeuvred by droids," she said, shaken. "His strategy is without flaw," she muttered bitterly.
"This is the end," Sha'a said sadly. "We're all doomed."
Ki-Adi spoke up, refusing to be cowed. "Our predicament is dire," he admitted. "But do not despair." He clenched his fists and said sternly, "Focus! We are Jedi!"
Both Aayla and K'Kruhk nodded and smiled in agreement.
Then, the thick voice of the General rang out across the battlefield. "Jedi!"
The General would have smiled if he was capable of doing so, imagining the stricken Jedi scampering through the wreckage of their ship to look for him.
"You are surrounded," the General continued. "Your armies, decimated. Make peace with the Force now, for this is your final hour." He paused briefly before he said his next words with relish. "But know that I, General Grievous, am not completely without mercy. I will grant you a warrior's death! Prepare!
The surprised Jedi listened as the echoes of Grievous's voice faded away. But then they heard amore horrifying sound, slow, mechanical footsteps, deliberate and powerful, resounding around them.
Seirr looked around the area, and the younger Cerean narrowed his eyes, squinting in an attempt to see something, anything. "I can't see anything," he murmured.
Shaak Ti was also squinted, holding her ignited lightsaber at the ready. "That noise..." she said.
Ki-Adi stood in the center of the area, holding his deactivated saber. "He is coming...alone," he said in realization.
Sha'a Gi began to panic. "We can't face him!" he protested.
"We must try, Padawan!" Ki-Adi replied.
Griveous's footsteps continued to echo as they grew in intensity and volume.
Tarr Seirr ignited an emerald blade. "It's close, but where?" he asked.
"It's all around us!" Sha'a cried, backing towards Seirr and Ki-Adi, holding his own green blade aloft.
"Calm yourself," Ki-Adi replied, though he was far from calm himself.
He could hear the footsteps so clearly, even without the Force, any being would be able to hear them, and he could tell from the sound that whoever this General Grievous was, he was substantially heavy.
"Steady," Ki-Adi warned.
Sha'a calmed down a little – only a little – and began looking from side to side, trying to catch a glimpse of the General.
The echoing footsteps got closer and closer – and then they stopped.
Sweat ran down the Cerean's hand as he clutched his lightsaber. "Steady," Ki-Adi said again.
Then he heard a scream of terror. Before he could stop him, Sha'a lifted his green blade in a defensive stance and charged for the gap to the outside.
"No!" yelled Ki-Adi in shock. Without hesitating, Ki-Adi and Seirr ran after Sha'a.
But as fast as the two Cereans were, they weren't fast enough to stop Sha'a from emerging from the wreckage – and no sooner had he done so, a massive figure leapt down from the ruins above them and landed squarely on the young Padawan's shoulders, crushing him with the weight of his metal body.
Ki-Adi screeched to a halt as the figure rose up. The elder Cerean saw a bleached mask of armourplast, and then the figure swept his white cape aside, exposing his similarly constructed body and limbs. Panels slid aside with harsh screeches as the General – at least, Ki-Adi assumed it to be the General – loomed over them, a good seven feet tall.
Though saddened by the death of Sha'a, Ki-Adi focused on the more pressing issue at hand, and he ignited the blue blade of his lightsaber. "Get back!" he yelled to Seirr.
The General immediately leaped into the air, out of sight as Ki-Adi, Seirr, Aayla, Shaak Ti and K'Kruhk backed away from the gaps in the wall, into the center of the room, lightsabers all held high – blue blades in the hands of Ki-Adi, Aayla and Shaak Ti, green in those of K'Kruhk and Seirr.
They didn't see the head of the General emerging from the shadows above them.
Grievous looked at the five Jedi in satisfaction as he clung to the ceiling with his powerful clawed feet, still stained with the blood of the Padawan.
He reached slowly and carefully for the lightsabers that were – for this attack, anyway, attached to his torso, rather than in his cape pockets. He took a blade in each hand, and moved into a combat stance, and then he slowly began to release his grip on the ceiling.
But even Grievous couldn't mask the sound of the ignition of both sabers, and so he ignited them at the last possible moment as he fell towards the ground, flipping around to land on his feet in a crouch.
Hearing the ignition of the green and blue blades, the Jedi scattered just in time, and then they threw themselves back at the General.
Grievous swung quickly, blocking the blows at range, keeping all five Jedi away from him with his strikes, fending off two at a time. When all five Jedi got too close, however, he began to rotate his torso at speed, swinging his lightsabers at the same time, creating a whirlwind of green and blue energy around him.
He slowly advanced on the elder Cerean, Mundi, still rotating his torso as the other four Jedi followed him. Grievous returned to fighting normally, and swung properly at Mundi, and the Jedi blocked the blows handily.
Grievous hissed in satisfaction. Yes, this was what he wanted! The other Jedi were beginning to regroup, and Grievous allowed one of their blows to disarm his blue blade, freeing his hand to flip himself upwards and catch the blade in his foot, with which he proceeded to swing at Mundi, blocking a cut at his side, while he simultaneously threw his other lightsaber into the air and caught it in his other foot, now standing on both hands. He swung his legs around, blocking the blows of the Jedi that they aimed at his legs, and then, faster than they could track him, he released the blades into the air, throwing the Jedi off briefly and allowing him to grab them in his hands again.
Grievous slashed again at the Jedi with quick strokes that were withdrawn almost before they could be parried, and the Jedi in turn parried each cut despite his attacks seeming almost random. The General turned, leapt and he swung with both sabers at Mundi, hoping to defeat him with sheer force, but Mundi was clever, and the Cerean took the most pragmatic option, leaping out of range of the strike to the wall and thrusting out his hand.
Recognizing the gesture as the use of the Force, Grievous immediately sprang away from the ground, burying his talons in the opposite wall and turning to face the Jedi. Then he bent and sprang at them, and they we scattered by his impact as he crashed into the ground.
Only the Whipid, K'Kruhk, was able to withstand the force of the impact, and he charged towards Grievous, engaging the General handily. Grievous was almost shocked by the superior strength of the Whipid Jedi, enough that his blue blade was disarmed again by K'Kruhk's green blade.
He seized his chance; the Whipid had left himself open to a slash across the waist, and then Grievous reached up and grabbed his blue blade, bringing it down in an arc that bit deep into K'Kruhk's shoulder, felling him.
He heard the horrified gasp of the Togruta, Shaak Ti, and then wreckage was flying towards himself, propelled by the power of the Force.
Grievous might have been at a disadvantage with a single blade, but with two, he easily cut aside the pieces. Shaak Ti kept up her assault, and Grievous suddenly realised that while he was distracted with one Jedi it was enough time to be in very real danger.
His cautiousness rewarded him; the younger Cerean was lunging for his back, lightsaber held high. Without missing a beat, the General reached across with his right foot to the left of his body, his talons grabbing the Jedi by the mouth and slamming him to the group with sufficient force to break the young Cerean's neck.
The assault ceased, and Grievous saw the Twi'lek running towards him. He backflipped away from her attack, catching her in his free foot and then he flung both her and the Cerean's corpse high into the wreckage.
Now both Mundi and Shaak Ti assaulted him in unison, and Grievous split his hands in two so that he could rotate his blades at a 360 degree angle at his wrists. He forced them towards the Jedi, and they backed away, unwilling to risk losing their blades to his own.
That suited Grievous just fine. He kicked out sharply with his right foot, catching Mundi off-guard in the stomach and launching him into the wall. Wreckage collapsed on top of Mundi, further hampering his progress.
Then Grievous advanced on Shaak Ti, well aware that she was better at fighting in a group. Still, she was putting up excellent resistance, and Grievous kept up the offensive, hacking at her with powerful strikes.
"Ki-Adi!" she cried. "Hurry!"
Grievous promptly disarmed her with savage glee and then he swung with his other blade. She raised her hands, and to the General's complete surprise, the blade did not harm her skin, but instead applied the usual force of his attack, knocking her into the wall. Rubble rained down on her.
"No! Shaak Ti!" cried the voice of Mundi, who had extracted himself from the rubble.
Ki-Adi had watched in horror as Seirr, Aayla, and K'Kruhk were struck down, and now Shaak Ti was out of the duel.
The General turned towards Ki-Adi, and he recoiled in shock as he saw the General's sallow, reptilian eyes.
A cyborg, the Cerean realized. He thrust out his hand, reaching out to his lightsaber with the Force, but Grievous had anticipated the move and slammed his foot down on the weapon, lifting the saber and igniting it. He stood on a single foot, wavering as he kept his balance.
Ki-Adi was shocked that he'd been foiled, that they'd been completely outmatched, and then his eyes were drawn to the lightsabers hooked to Grievous's torso. He reached out with the Force, calling a saber to his grasp, and with his limbs all occupied, the General had no defense against the theft.
Ki-Adi caught the saber and ignited the green blade.
General Grievous wobbled on his single foot, though he kept his balance.
Ki-Adi looked down, waiting for the moment that the General's claws would flex, propelling him into the air, and he drew on the white light of the Force to provide him with clarity.
Grievous depressed his talons, propelling himself into the air, and his lightsabers reached for Ki-Adi Mundi...
Captain Fordo donned his helmet. Around him, clone troopers were slotting power packs into their weapons, clipping on their utility belts and slinging weapons over their shoulders, checking the safety.
"Commander," the pilot called as Fordo holstered a freshly charged blaster pistol. "Approaching target."
"Begin jamming signals," Fordo ordered.
"Yes sir!" he pilot replied, and he tapped a button.
The gunship blasted through Hypori's airspace, low over the ground.
"Open doors," Fordo ordered.
The slabs of metal cranked open, and Hypori's sunlight flooded into the bay.
"Approaching droid perimeter," the pilot informed them. "We are undetected."
"Gun it!" Fordo replied.
"Sir!" called the pilot, and he did so with pleasure, slamming the accelerator forwards. The gunship streaked low over the super battle droids, so low that they took off the head of one of the droids, and then another.
The pilot pressed another button, opening a slat in the back of the gunship and scattering detonator-linked explosives through the super battle droids' ranks.
The droids clustered around the explosives for maybe two seconds before they turned and opened fire on the gunship, but to no avail; the gunship had reached the wreckage, blasting open an entry hole.
As the gunship descended, the clone troopers disembarked. Most of the lieutenants carried basic DC-15 blaster rifles, but Fordo wasn't taking any chances, and thus two of his troopers were outfitted with heavy weapons; a repeating blaster cannon and a "Clip-Quad," portable but powerful weapons.
"Three life signs," Fordo said, examining his tactical unit. "One in the rubble," he said, pointing to his left. "Another in the rafters," he continued, pointing above him.
Two troopers moved to follow his orders, one using a grappling hook to winch himself into the rafters of the wreckage of the ship.
"Everyone else, with me. Move out!" Fordo ordered, drawing two DC-17 blaster pistols as his heavy troopers disembarked.
Behind him, the gunship lifted off the ground, hovering by a hole in the side of the wreckage.
The pilot noted the oncoming horde of super battle droids and opened fire, ripping through the droids with ease.
Inside the wreckage, the troopers followed the tactical unit to the last life sign; as far as they could tell, the passages all led in the same direction.
Holstering on of his blaster pistols, Fordo quickly gestured to the left and then to the right. Small groups of troopers scaled the sides of the main passage, moving in a flanking manoeuvre. He quickly pulled out his second pistol again, and they rounded the corner to see General Mundi in combat with a monster of bleached armourplast that was wielding two lightsabers.
General Mundi was battered and tired, and just as the clone troopers rounded the final corner the monster disarmed him and loomed over him, preparing a final strike.
As General Grievous readied his sabers for the final blow, something made him look elsewhere – the lights of blaster rifles.
He looked up from the downed Cerean to see several clone troopers, who wasted no time in opening fire on him after allowing themselves to take in his appearance.
Grievous turned and fled, tearing through the rubble and burying his talons in the wall. Blue blaster bolts exploded all around him; the clones had obviously flanked him, and Grievous cursed himself for getting so distracted with Mundi.
He continued running, scaling the wall to the point that he was running across the ceiling, and the clones still kept up their fire, including some heavier weaponry. Given the reports the Republic must have gotten, Grievous thought, they must have decided to take little chances.
The thought gratified him, as did the yelling of Mundi.
"Shoot him down! Shoot him down!" the Cerean yelled in what seemed to be rage at his comrades' defeat.
The tone of the Jedi's words amused the General, and he released his hold on the ceiling, landing squarely in front of four clone troopers.
Grievous cut them down in seconds with quick, powerful slashes.
"Backup, now!" bellowed the voice of the clone captain.
There was an almighty crash behind him, and Grievous spun around to find himself staring into the frontal lights of LAAT gunship.
Hissing under his breath, he backed away slowly.
Then the pilot opened fire, and Grievous turned tail and ran. This was too much for him, he knew. The combination of the wreckage of the Aclammator, his sheer speed, and his cape protected him from the worst of the assault.
The clones were still firing at him as well, and as he passed a gap to the side of the gunship, a barrage of rockets was unleashed; shredding the bottom layer of his cape as he barely dodged the blow.
"Everyone out!" Fordo ordered.
"No!" yelled General Mundi, racing forwards.
Fordo caught him before he could get out of sight, restraining the Jedi General with all his strength.
"We must pursue!" Mundi cried.
"General, we can't," Fordo replied. "The survivors will die. We have no time!"
Reluctantly, Mundi boarded the gunship, followed by both Fordo and the heavy trooper, who both provided suppressive fire as the gunship lifted off.
Fordo turned to see General Mundi looking in shock at the broken and battered bodies of Generals Secura and Ti, oxygen masks regulating their breathing and bacta already being fed into their bodies.
"Aayla…" whispered Mundi in shock. He knelt down and gently took General Ti's hand. "Shaak Ti…" he gasped.
"They're stablized, sir," Fordo reassured the Cerean. "They just might make it."
Mundi nodded. "And the others?" he asked.
"They are all dead, sir," Fordo admitted.
Hanging his large head, Mundi sighed in resignation and utter defeat.
Grievous smiled as he hefted the lightsaber in his hand. This is a fine weapon, to be sure, he thought, looking down at K'Kruhk, its previous owner. He hooked it onto his torso and began heading for the outside of the ship.
The gunship blasted outside of the wreckage of the Aclammator.
Fordo held a detonator in his hand and he depressed the button.
The explosives that they'd laid as the gunship arrived exploded, destroying many, if not most of the super battle droid flanking the ship.
As the smoke from the explosions faded, General Grievous strode outside the ship, his cape in tatters and his walk unmarred by any injury.
He chuckled as he looked up at the fleeing gunship. "Run, Jedi," laughed Grievous. "You have only prolonged the inevitable…"
Simple, sweet, and short.
I urge you to watch both this scene and a stop-motion LEGO recreation of it. They are quite good, even though I still don't really like the animation style.