A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away …

STAR WARS

PROVE YOUR WORTH

...

Chapter 1: The Ultimatum

Unoccupied space, near the Kadok Regions in the Outer Rim territories. Early in the second year of the Clone Wars. Two weeks after the failed attempt by the CIS to conquer the planet of Naboo. Twenty one years before the battle of Yavin Four.

A small contingency of the Confederacy armada drifted through the vacuum of space, currently following no trajectory. Vulture droids, and Tri fighters ever vigilantly patrolled the fleet's perimeter whilst the cursors scanners were tuned to maximum lest the Republic discover their location and attempt an attack.

This fleet was small and short in strength compared to the standard requirements of a CIS fleet. Consisting only of two Intergalactic Banking Clan frigates, one Lucrehulk-class battleship and a Providence-class carrier/destroyer, the latter of which served as the fleet's flag ship. Yet despite this small size each ship carried at least four battalions of battle droids (perhaps several more in the Lucrehulk's case), and a reasonable number of star fighters.

Even though there had been no sign of battle since the fleet set out from Serenno, earlier that day dozens of maintenance and labour droids were hard at work. Carrying out vital repairs or else navigating their cruisers with pin point accuracy. Some were aided by a few Neimoidian and Geonosian allies. The main contingent of the battle droids however, were currently powered down and tucked away safely within landing crafts and droid carriers. These units awaited an activation signal, that would only come when a system was chosen for conquest and / or a chance for battle presented itself. The choice of when and where this would occur lay with the fleet's commander.

Aboard the bridge of the flagship, The Vengeful Star the said leader was sat in the giant rectangular command chair. With his right elbow propped upon the arm of the chair, General Grievous stroked the lower part of his mask with his right hand. His dark yellow eyes stared hauntingly ahead of him, glaring blankly into space. He repeatedly traced the fingers of his left hand across his seats stone surface, making a horrible grating sound equivalent to the sound of chalk being scrapped across a blackboard.

A low hissing growl constantly escaped from Grievous' ventilators, alerting the rest of the crew (or at least those within ear shot) to the fact that their commander was angry. No small feat, for Grievous had a tendency to be angry about something. This made them weary for whenever the opportunity arose, the cyborg had a habit of taking his anger out upon anyone who caused him further frustration. As such the crew busied themselves with their work, maintaining a safe distance so as not to give the cyborg any cause to do so.

Grievous however paid his subordinates no heed, for he was lost deep within the dark fathoms and tendrils of his memory. Today his anger was justified, and temper understandable. For you see, the General had landed himself in a predicament.

The war was currently at a neutral stage with no advantage going to either the Republic or the Separatists. For every victory each side won a crippling defeat soon followed. As such the commanders of both sides were working hard, trying to find the battle that would give their respective side the advantage it needed to achieve victory in the conflict.

Less than twelve hours ago, Grievous had been summoned to Serenno. He had originally believed that Dooku had chosen an important military / political base vital to the Republic and wished for Grievous to conquer it. Oh by the force how wrong he had been.

Flashback: Seven hours ago, the Serenno system.

Grievous' shuttle touched down on one of the many hangers within the palace grounds. Descending the ramp the cyborg began to make his way to the main palace chambers where the overlord of the planet was based. He was flanked by two of his cloaked Magna Guard's. Grievous paid little attention to the hive of activity going on around him, even as maintenance droids and sentient's loyal to the Separatist cause rushed past him to carry out their errands. The few who were foolish enough to approach either Grievous or his Magna Guard escort were quickly driven away.

Fortunately after exiting the hanger his progress was less impeded and the General soon reached his destination. With a brief wave of their commander's hand Grievous' Magna Guards halted, for aside from the guards already in there no droids were authorised to enter Dooku's chamber without the Sith's authorisation. As such Grievous entered the dark room alone.

He marched up the aisle, his sides flanked by a line of guards. His taloned feet clanked with every step against the stone surface. At the back of the chamber stood the Separatist Head of State and Grievous' lightsaber trainer Dooku. The humans face was set and his dark eyes glaring as the cyborg approached. To the Count's left stood his Dark Jedi apprentice Asajj Ventress and next to her was a hologram of the hulking bounty hunter Durge, currently away on a campaign of conquest himself. Ventress was smiling wickedly in Grievous' direction, whilst Durge had his arms crossed over his chest, the Gen'Dai's face impossible to read because of the helmet he wore.

Grievous kept his eyes squarely upon Dooku as he approached. At the base of the steps Grievous got down on one knee, and bowed to his master. "You summoned me my lord" he spoke in his raspy droid like voice.

"Yes General" came the reply of Count Dooku, and Grievous did not fail to notice the dark tone in his Sith masters voice. "A great problem has arisen within the CIS' ranks. One that needs to be resolved and I intend to do so as quickly and efficiently as possible."

Grievous nodded with apparent understanding. He bowed again, placing his right hand over his heart as a gesture of recognition and loyalty. "I am yours to command my lord. Simply point me in the right direction that I may carry out your will".

Ventress chuckled audibly, and whispered loudly to herself "Naïve fool". Durge did not move but a low rumble was heard emanating from the hologram as the alien emitted a low growl.

"Be quiet Ventress" Dooku ordered briefly turning his head in her direction before returning his gaze towards the cyborg. Ventress lowered her bald head, but continued to smile maliciously in Grievous' direction. "The fact is Grievous that you are the one I am concerned about, and that is why I have summoned you here".

"What?!" Grievous remained squarely on his knees but he raised his head up and stared at the Count, confused by his statement.

"As you have no doubt heard General, the war is still not going well for us" Dooku explained. "Despite the fact that we outnumber the Republic on all counts, I have been hearing and seeing nothing but bad news lately. For every system that we take another is lost. I am looking for reasons as to why this might be happening. A part of me suspects it may be the ineptitude of my commanders. If so I need to find new ways to motivate them, and you General are at the top of my list. Your recent actions have been far from satisfactory. All I hear is accounts of humiliating defeats at the hands of the Republic. This is displeasing both to myself, and Lord Sidious."

"But my Lord, that is not entirely true" Grievous protested. "My victories well outnumber my defeats. I have won great battles for you, in the name of the Separatist cause. All that I …."

"Enough, I do not want to hear your excuses" Dooku ordered, holding out a hand and Grievous fell silent. "There is no doubting your accomplishments they were superb, flawless victories, but there are also many failures to your name as well. Not only your gross misjudgement cost us the Malevolence early on in this war, but you have also allowed vital information and strategic positions to fall into the hands of the Republic countless times. Victory has been stolen from under your nose more times than I dare to count, sometimes by no more than a squadron of clones and one or two of the Jedi, whom I would have expected someone of your calibre to defeat without apparent effort. Your failure on Kamino, is as good an example as any of this. Not only did you allow the clone garrison to defeat your numerically superior army, but despite ample opportunity to do so, you could not best Obi Wan Kenobi in single combat."

"The battle of Kamino a joint mission between myself and Ventress" Grievous roared pointing a finger accusingly at the Dathomirian. "Her shame in that defeat is as equal as my own!"

"You were the senior commander in that mission Grievous, Ventress cannot be blamed for your misjudgements and inability to cover up the exploitable loop holes in the plan. Mistakes that could easily have been fixed had you focused on them." Grievous let out a low wheezing growl but made no effort to contradict the Counts statement. Ventress folded her arms coyly across her chest, smirking evilly at Grievous.

Dooku sighed shaking his head, "I had hoped that the situation on Vassek would have helped you to understand what is expected from you General. Yet your capture on Naboo by the primitive Gungan's suggests otherwise".

Ventress laughed uproariously and even the rarely emotional Durge chuckled at this comment. "Argh" Grievous barked loudly, glaring at the pair his hands balling into fists. Grievous did not like to be reminded about this particular failure and if it had been anyone else he would have probably struck them down for even mentioning it. Not that the thought didn't cross his mind.

Dooku turned to Ventress and Durge who were able to control their laughter enough that it became a series of small chuckles. With that Dooku started to speak again. "No, Grievous this will not do, not at all. This is the last straw as far as I am concerned! I am sick of your incompetence and tired of your failures. You seem to lack the motivation necessary to win this war General and I will not stand for it. Never the less as you have pointed out, great victories have also been won in your name, meaning that you are not entirely worthless. Therefore I am going to give you one last chance to prove your worth!"

"What do you mean?" Grievous inquired, his bald eyebrows furrowed as he stared intently at Dooku.

The human turned and pushed a few buttons on the command desk beside him. A large holographic image of four ships appeared for all to see (the ones mention earlier). He gestured at the image with one hand, "Grievous, this is: The Fleet of Rightful Conquest, to which I am giving you sole command. As you can see it is smaller than the standard fleet within our armada, and certainly more so than what you are used to commanding. Hopefully it will serve its purpose". The tone of his voice indicated that the Count wasn't entirely convinced by this statement.

"With this fleet you are to conquer a Republic system. The target is to be one of your choosing. Head to any location across the galaxy and take the planet in the name of the CIS. Your army will consist of the units provided to you by this fleet."

"But my Lord, most of the Republic worlds will be entrenched and heavily fortified. How am I to …" but Grievous' protest was cut off by Dooku.

"That will be your problem General, and I expect you to find a way to deal with it. This is what is expected of you, as the Supreme commander of the Droid armies. You are to be inventive and creative in order to find your way out of sticky situations. Should you wish to maintain the position assigned to you, then I need you to prove that you are worthy of it. I have made sure that there are multiple terrain vehicles within this fleet and a reasonable detachment of droid star fighters. It should hopefully give you a chance at a successful conquest. Aside from this, once you have left this room, no other forces will aid you in your mission. I have already sent out a message to all of our other fleets and authority figures, telling them not to support you in your conquest. Also I do not want to hear that you have taken an isolated system with a minimal garrison. Though it may be beyond you, I am expecting you to take a planet of vital strategic importance to the Republic. One whose capture will bring us that much closer to winning this war. Do you understand me General?"

Grievous glared at Dooku, with a hatred he thought not possible. So the Count thought him weak and incompetent did he? Owing to a few small failures Grievous was being assigned to a mission that was most likely doomed to fail. He turned to look at Ventress and Durge. Both had their arms folded across their chests but only Ventress' look of triumph and smugness could be seen.

Determined to show no signs of weakness or fear Grievous nodded. "Yes my Lord" he said darkly, bowing his head once again.

Dooku nodded, "Good". The human turned his back on the General and deactivated the hologram. He did not turn around again but merely looked over his shoulder. "Be gone then". Grievous rose to his feet and had just started to turn around when Dooku spoke again, making him pause.

"Oh and Grievous, one more thing. I am giving you a week by Serenno time to complete this mission. Should I not hear from you within that time frame I shall assume you have failed, and either Ventress or Durge will succeed you as Supreme commander. Furthermore, should you prove unsuccessful in this endeavour; you shall be made an example of. Not only will you be outcast from the Separatists, a bounty so high will be placed on your head, that you will never be able to find peace in this galaxy. You will be hunted day and night for the rest of your existence, if you fail me again. Is that understood?"

Grievous said nothing, he just glared at Dooku. Out of the corner of his eye he noted how a smirking Ventress stroked the hilts of her lightsaber's, and how Durge stroked his chin with the index finger and thumb of his right hand. The cyborg was under no illusion as to why they were doing this. Grievous had defeated the pair in a duel in order to claim the title of Supreme Commander shortly after the outbreak of the war. To be provided with an opportunity to avenge their lost honour and strike down an outcast Grievous was a chance that the pair would leap at.

"Ha!" was Grievous answer Dooku's question. With that grunt Grievous left the chambers his cloak billowing behind him and his mood slightly different to what he had expected it to be when he arrived.

End of Flashback. Current time setting, unoccupied space.

"Rrgh!" Grievous roared, slamming his duranium fists onto the arms of his chair, making the nearby droids and Nemoidian's jump. A few let their curiosity get the better of them and turned to look at Grievous. The cyborg ignored their stares and when Grievous rose to his feet, these subordinates quickly got back to work.

Grievous marched over to the front windows of the bridge in big strides, and stared out into the black reaches of space. This region was close to his home world of Kalee, a place of better memories, where he had grown up under a different name. He had chosen to come here after Serenno because these thoughts relaxed him and allowed him to properly assess the situation. For the first time since the start of the Clone Wars, Grievous had an army to command that he did not know what to do with. He was used to receiving commands and instructions from Dooku, the Separatist Council or on the rare occasion Sidious himself.

He growled angrily again at the thought of this, what was the point of having an army, if one did not know what to do with it he thought as he dissolved into a short series of fitting coughs. Yet as the coughs subsided Grievous felt his mood change again. He growled but this time with understanding and anticipation as he looked at his problem from a new perspective. Here he was the most valuable asset to the Separatist cause, with a small army and armada at his disposal. With no one to order him around Grievous was free to go anywhere in the galaxy that he wanted.

The many thousands of planets out there were currently his oyster, and the people of the yet unchosen target didn't know it yet, but they would soon be entirely at his mercy. A surprise attack, with minimal warning at best, on any planet that he. General Grievous chose. He had seven days Serenno time frame to take one planet for the Separatist cause. One planet was all that stood between Grievous and achieving his goal.

"Alright then Count" Grievous said to himself. "If that is the way you want it, fine. I will take this little test of yours. You want me to conquer a planet for you? I will do that and more. You want me to prove I am worthy, then I will. Captain!" he barked at the T series tactical battle droid, which was standing in close proximity to him.

"Yes my Lord" the droid replied crisply as it stood to attention.

"Count Dooku has ordered us to take a system for the Separatist cause. One that is of vital use to the Republic. We have a week in which to achieve this objective" Grievous' said as he turned to face the droid. After a few second his eyes furrowed, enhancing the dangerous slits. "Well … why are you just standing there? Intercept any Republic transmission within this vector of space. Identify all of the planetary systems within travelling distance of this fleet. Show me every piece of Intel we have on the Republic stratagem. You hear what I am saying Captain? Find me a target."

End of Chapter 1

Well there you go. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this story.

Please review I take all comments. Next Chapter coming ASAP.