The guard yawned. "How long is this shift gonna last, anyway? Its not like these prisoners are going anywhere." The guard next to him shook his head. "For a veteran, you sure don't have any patience. We were commanded specifically to guard this place at all times, especially considering Dirge is here. The other guard blinked. "That alien bounty hunter? I thought he was dead." His companion once again shook his head. "Some clueless loser saw him hurtling toward the sun and saved him. Of course, Dirge killed him afterwards, and he was locked up here." Suddenly, a shadow appeared in front of them. An eerie, mechanical voice growled from the shadows. "Excuse me, soldiers, but I'm afraid I require Dirge's assistance." Both soldiers pointed their blasters to the mysterious, menacing entity. "What authority requests this?" The veteran spoke first. No sooner had he finished his sentence than a piercing beam of light lunged forward and came out the back of his head. As his dead body crumpled to the ground, his terrified companion shot frantically at the murderous creature, which advanced forward and used the same beam of light to bisect him at the waist. Falling on the ground, the soldier coughed up blood. "Who… Who are you!" He rasped. The figure laughed. "Well, I suppose it's only fair that you know the face of you executioner." He stepped into the light, revealing his full, frightening form. The soldier shook uncontrollably. "General Griev…" ZZHOOM! The lightsaber struck a final time. Kicking the body contemptuously, Grievous cackled. "I expected more resistance." He walked to the locked door and lifted his powerful, clawed leg. "Reinforced titanium? Pathetic." He kicked it down and walked in. He walked through the corridors of prisoners until he came across a particularly unpleasant cell containing Dirge, immortal alien terror. "Dirge, I presume?" Dirge looked up. "What is it to you?" Grievous' eyes narrowed. "I have plans, and I thought your assistance would be most valuable." Dirge turned his head. "And what if I say no?" Grievous turned to leave. "Then I presume you would wish to stay here for the rest of your extended life." "Wait." Dirge stood up. "What's your plan?" Grievous turned his head. "To overthrow the Empire. Are you with me?" Dirge paused, then bowed. "I'm with you. What's the first step?" "Come with me." Grievous led Dirge to one of the many ships in his armada. Dirge looked around in confusion. "I thought the Empire stopped droid production." Grievous scowled. "Let's just say I found an old factory and started my own special brand of warriors." Dirge gazed upon the army and saw that it was indeed different. About twenty-five percent of his army was composed of Grievous' bodyguards. The rest were ordinary Super and standard battle droids, but with one notable difference: they each had a large, claw-like blade on the sides of their arms. Dirge leaned over to Grievous. "I like the way you think. Are we ready to go?" Grievous nodded in confirmation, and they both climbed into Grievous' own personal flagship, modeled after his original one, the Invisible Hand. After firing up the engines, the armada was off. It wasn't long, though, before Grievous' flagship shook. "What in…" Grievous glanced out the window and saw numerous TIE Fighters and Star Destroyers nearby. "Damn! They must have tracked us!" He turned the intercom. "Attention all batteries! Open fire!" The soulless army complied, letting loose a hail of blaster fire. To Grievous' frustration, it merely bounced off the ships. "Damn it!" Grievous raged. "They must have upgraded their shielding!" Suddenly, Grievous noticed a nearby black hole. "Looks as if we have no choice but to retreat." Dirge realized what he was implying. "Are you crazy! There's no telling where that would take us!" Grievous merely looked at his companion. "We shall just have to take out chances." Dirge nodded reluctantly. Satisfied, Grievous turned to the intercom once again. "All ships change direction! Head for the black hole!" After the ships had flown into the cosmic anomaly, Grievous merely laughed. "It's not over yet." He then directed his own ship into the black hole. As they entered the black hole, though, their ships shook. "Warning: Major fuel depletion. Locate nearest planet." Dirge folded his arms. "Great job, Grievous. No fuel. Now what?" Grievous, still raging, turned to the bounty hunter. "What the computer said: we land."
Maverick Hunter HQ….
"Warning! Warning! All Maverick Hunters report NOW! This is not a drill!" The navigator's voice blared over the intercom. "Large spacecrafts detected heading for the planet, quite possibly Maverick!"
End of Prologue
This is a joint effort by me and Specialman (once again.)