Author's note: After all this Vulture Droid philosophy, and Jedi musings, I decided that it was time for Grievous to get some straightforward action. Here's one big long lightsaber fight for you..
Plus, I was inspired today, so I wrote this whole chapter in a matter of hours. ENJOY. All © George Lucas and Co.
-War room, The Apocalypse Weapon, Hyperspace-
Mace Windu stood hunched over the table detailing their plan for attack on the Separatist facility. Several other Jedi were with him, Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, Shaak Ti, Aayla Secura, and Ahsoka Tano. They were chosen either because they had faced Grievous before, or because they had the skill to face Grievous. This mission, if, no, when it succeeded, would bring an end to the war with the capture of Grievous. Padawan Tano though, she would be a liability in the mission. Grievous had killed her former master, and she probably would want to get revenge on the bloodthirsty cyborg. She would need to be watched.
The plan was to have the Apocalypse Weapon shoot the facility, taking down a large amount of droids onboard. They would then target the spherical battle station, and hopefully take out whatever was on it too. They would then find Grievous, capture him if he had been caught in the weapon, and if not, they would fight him. While this happened, the twenty odd Imperator's, forty odd Venator's and sixty odd Aclamator's would attack the ships at the facility. Windu hoped to whatever higher power that there might be that not one Subjugator had it's Ion Pulse Cannon operational. But, it wouldn't matter; the whole fleet would be spread apart. Soon now, they would be at the facility. The scouts had further pinpointed it's position, with the help of a very good pilot and a stealth ship. Master Windu looked at the fleet, and looked at the Jedi he had assembled. Grievous and his droid didn't stand a chance.
-Main Bridge, Cataclysm, Subjugator-class Heavy Cruiser-
"Being up here gives me memories. Good memories, bad memories…" Grievous rambled. Esera Corin looked about the bridge with its red screens and buttons.
"It's different from other CIS ships. More menacing." She said.
"Dooku requested it be red. I wanted it to be green readouts, but no… Red is hard on my eyes." Grievous clenched a fist.
"Well, you're in control here. You can just change them to green now." She suggested.
"It would be disrespectful to his legacy. We owe Dooku a lot, the least we can do is keep the bridge of these ship's the way he wanted them." The cyborg looked at the other two Subjugator's that were complete, Serenno, named in honor of Dooku's home world, and Independence, named for one of the ideal's the Confederacy fought for. "Which one do you want?" He asked.
"Excuse me?" Esera wasn't expecting this, by her expression. Grievous looked at her.
"Which one do you want? I'm giving you one." He waited for an answer. He needed at least one other competent commander on one of his best ships. She looked bewildered.
"Um… Uh… That one, I guess…" She pointed at Serenno.
"Alright, it's yours. Get a shuttle over there." He said.
"But, just like that? I have one of the best ships in the Confederate Navy?" She questioned.
"Yes." Grievous said with annoyance.
"But I don't even have a rank yet!" She exclaimed. Grievous rolled his reptilian eyes.
"Then you better go earn one with that ship! Move!" He yelled. The Jedi scampered off the bridge of Cataclysm. Grievous hoped he was making a good decision. The cyborg brought up the upgrades he had added onto all the Subjugator's. Their IPC's were greatly improved, designed not to overload if one was destroyed, the factor that had doomed Malevolence, and their range and area of effect had been increased. Grievous had also studied the way he was restored after being hit by the Republic's new weapon. There were plans in the work of how to use the IPC's to actually reboot the droids, and negate the effects of the new weapon. But those were far from complete. The General had his favorite chair, the one from Vesilath, brought aboard and placed on the bridge. He sank into it, the chair absorbing even the cyborg's size. Grievous closed his eyes, and prepared to relax… And then a droid said something.
"General, we have just detected traces of a set of ion engine trails. They seem to be the kind used on Republic ships." Grievous sighed, and then growled. He stood up, straightened his cloak, and walked to the droid.
"What?" He asked.
"The radiation trails left by the engines match the ones of an ARC-170." The droid stated again. "And there is a left over footprint of what appears to be some kind of stealthing material." The battle droid looked up at Grievous.
"No… They can't have found us. No. No. They can't have… Move!" He near-yelled. The droid stood and moved aside. Grievous sat down and his metal fingers clicked on the keys of the controls. "Blast!" He shouted. "They've found us!" The detectors placed in hyperspace around the facility were picking up a massive Republic fleet. Grievous was enraged, then fearful, then joyful. They didn't know that just under half the facility's ships were ready for combat. Grievous got on the comm. to all ships. "This is General Grievous, we will be under attack shortly. All crews to your ships, arm all weapons, ready all fighters and bombers, and spread out! Spread out! Repeat: Spread out!" Grievous issued orders across all frequencies. He didn't care if the Republic heard, but he did care about his –Well, not really his, the people of the Confederacy's, as it was their money paying for it- battle station. Grievous knew that there would be Jedi coming, that they wanted to capture him. The Republic seemed under the delusion that if he were captured, the Separatists would surrender. Well, some, like the Nemoidians would, but others, like the Vesila or Sluissi, would fight on to the bloody end.
The Confederate fleet began to disperse from their docks, spreading out over thousands of kilometers. Grievous watched with pride as the ships took up battle positions. This was a force worthy of his command. A central battle line began to form behind the Cataclysm, a few dozen Lucrehulk's, and many Munificent's, Recusant's, and a handful of Providence's following the ship. The majority of operational ships were in Grievous's line. Serenno and Independence led the other two, smaller, lines. He knew Esera Corin was on Serenno, and she had experience in fleet battles. Grievous knew that Independence was to fall under the command of Lord Jerithox, but he was not in fighting condition. That left his second in command in charge of it: OOM-27, the battle droid. The cyborg cringed at the thought of a battle droid in charge of a warship of that value. Oh well, at least there were more ships in production. Suddenly, the Republic fleet emerged from hyperspace. "CHARGE PLASMA ROTORS!" he screamed, both to his ship and the other two. No mistakes could be afforded. And woe upon who ever made one…
-Command Bridge, The Apocalypse Weapon, 20,000 kilometers from NCY-I-U-
"What?!" Windu shouted. A massive amount of Separatist ships waited before him, spread out in three long battle lines, each led by a Subjugator Heavy Cruiser. And those Subjugator's were each charging their Ion Pulse Cannon's. "Evasive maneuvers, now!" He ordered. "This is Windu to Fisto, Windu to Fisto!" He repeated on his commlink.
"Fisto here." Answered the other Jedi.
"Get the boarding ship ready, I'll meet you on it shortly." Windu commanded. He didn't wait for the answer. "Get that weapon charged!" He yelled to the clones. With that, he rushed out of the bridge, and through the well-lit halls. The 'boarding ship' they'd be using was a Consular-class frigate, and it was heavily armored in the front, specifically for ramming into the facility. Fisto had thought of it, borrowing the idea from Separatist boarding craft. Finally, Master Windu arrived in the hangar. He got on the boarding craft, painted all black to blend in with the backdrop of space. All the other Jedi where there. "Let's go." He said. The boarding ship dropped out of the hangar, and shot off toward the facility. They didn't know what was in store for them.
-Main Bridge, Cataclysm, Subjugator-class Heavy Cruiser-
"Fire!" Grievous ordered. Three disks of ionized energy blasted at the Republic fleet, spreading out and going right through them. About a third of the Republic ships were hit, as was their super weapon. Grievous found it amusing that only a third of the ship was hit. Unfortunately, the ion pulse set off it's weapon in some weird scientific collision of energy. The beam of blue light his a part of the facility, but not all. Grievous clenched a fist as he saw a half complete Subjugator get it. There went a lot of work droids. Then, he saw a black shape moving toward the station. "Jedi…" He muttered. "You're in charge!" He yelled, pointing at a command droid. He didn't care about Cataclysm right now; all he cared is that he would get to fight some worthy opponents.
Grievous rushed into the turbolift, and down, down to the rail jets. And on those, rushed to the hangars. And he rushed to his fighter, Soulless One. Grievous climbed in, making sure he had four lightsabers, and shot off to the construction yard, instead of the main facility. From there, he would turn the main power off, making things just that more fun. The fast little fighter quickly over took the ship the Jedi were using, but they had no idea he was out in space with them. The fighter attached it self to the side of a wall, and Grievous magnetized his feet to stay attached to it and not float off. The cyborg opened a service hatch, and went through. He was near the main electrical shut off. This was good. General Grievous quickly walked along the empty, dim hallway, quivering with the excitement at the fight he would be soon having. The cyborg found the room, and inside was a big red switch. He flipped it, and watched the readouts as the lights dimmed even more, and completely shut off. Before that last bit of energy exited the system, Grievous located the Jedi. They were near the facility's main reactor. This would be a good fight. Of course, what General Grievous didn't know, is that instead of the master-knight-padawan team he was expecting, there were four masters, a knight, and a padawan.
-Hallway C, Deck 31, NCY-1-U-
Grievous lurked in the shadows, the Jedi were coming. He could hear voices, more than thought would be here. That didn't mean much, because there would be more for the slaughter. He would be fine if he took down at least two thirds of them. They were about to turn the corner. Grievous grabbed his lightsabers, readied his arms to split in to two, and stood up to his full height. Then, they came around. "Whoa!" He heard one shout. Light's went on, all shining at him.
"Welcome, Jedi, to Naval Construction Yard One! I hope you will enjoy your stay." Grievous said to them, looking down. He couldn't make out who they were yet, but he had a feeling he would know soon enough. Six lightsabers came on, one purple, three blue, and two green. With their combined glow, he recognized some of them. There was Shaak Ti, whom he had fought twice, Aayla Secura, from the Hypori fight, Kit Fisto, whom he hated more than the others, and, the one he just laughed at: Ahsoka Tano. There was one he didn't know, a Kel Dor. But then he noticed the purple lightsaber again. Purple. It was Mace Windu, the worst of the lot. The one who had crushed his chest with the force. Grievous hated him more then Fisto.
"Grievous, surrender, and perhaps we might spare you." Commanded the hated one, Windu. The general shook his head.
"You should be the one surrendering." Grievous unclasped his cloak, letting it fall to the floor, and broke his arms in two, a lightsaber in each of his four hands. He began to spin two of them, like deadly, colored, saws, and advanced on the Jedi. Grievous didn't care if they sliced into the wall, that didn't matter. The sparks made the scene more intimidating. The six backed up. Then, the young Togruta, Ahsoka, charged. His lightsabers clashed against hers, and other attacked two. Grievous quickly found himself in over his head. These Jedi were good. Both Shaak Ti and Tano were attacking from one side, Windu and Fisto from another, and Secura and the unknown Kel Dor from yet another. Grievous had to work fast to keep from being damaged. This tactic of fighting them all at once wasn't working. Quickly, Grievous needed to level the odds. A powerful talon smashed into Fisto, grabbing him by the chest, and hitting him against the ground several times. The Twi'lek Secura yelled in anger, and ran for him. Just like Grievous wanted. He spun a lightsaber at her, temporarily distracting the Jedi. Then, he made a slash at the Kel Dor, and it got him in the shoulder. He had to back out. Now it was four versus four. The Twi'lek was still blindly attacking him, with no technique or skill. Grievous laughed, and backhanded her down the hall. But, now the Kel Dor was back in the game.
"Tell, me Jedi, what is you name?" Grievous asked him, across clashing lightsabers.
"It's Plo Koon, and you better remember it, General." He said, making a slash up at Grievous. It made a slight scorch mark across his chest plate.
"I will, Jedi, I will." With that, Grievous jumped over his head, and behind him. As he turned, Grievous sliced one of his hands off. Koon fell to the ground. Shaak Ti and Ahsoka took on the General now. The cyborg noted to himself the Windu and Fisto had disappeared. Ahsoka stabbed at him, and Grievous deflected it. As he did that, the other Togruta made a lunge for his legs, hoping to cut them off. The general kicked her away. "Ah, Ahsoka, we fight again. This time Anakin isn't here to save you. Where is he anyway? Oh, that's right, I killed him. You remember, don't you? Watching that broadcast, helplessly watching as I destroyed your precious Chosen One?" She didn't say anything, but the anger in her eyes turned into hate. Grievous laughed as he brought down four lightsabers on her one. She faltered under the relentless barrage of blows. Finally, she fell, unable to block any more. As he was preparing to rid the universe of the orange menace, Windu and Fisto appeared. "A real challenge. Finally."
"You're no challenge, Grievous." Windu said.
"It is a grave mistake to think like that, Master Windu." Grievous's voice was laced with contempt. He began moving his blades in long sweeping motions, two in one direction, two in another. Doing this, he advanced on them. Without warning, he leapt at Fisto, swinging his sabers wildly, without pattern. The green skinned Jedi was overwhelmed, and had to retreat. Shaak Ti and Ahsoka were back on their feet, joining Windu in fighting the Confederacy's Head of State. Grievous spun his lightsabers again, forming an impenetrable wall of light and energy. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Plo Koon rise. Grievous stopped spinning his sabers, and turned to him, laughing. He stabbed the Koon with all four weapons, lifting him up on them, and smashing him to the ground.
"No!" Ahsoka yelled, and Fisto, just rejoining the fight, looked horrified. Grievous stepped on the Jedi's body, picking up his lightsaber with a foot. Now it was five sabers versus four. But Grievous had to stand where he was. All four began a furious assault of attacks, but the General returned with his own speed and strength. It seemed they were deadlocked, until Aayla Secure rejoined, having recovered from being backhand slapped down a hall. Grievous sighed, and realized he was just barely outmatched by all of them. He needed a distraction, fast. So the general jumped up to the ceiling, and magnetized. He scuttled along it, and down another dark hall. That hall led into the main reactor room. The Jedi would follow, after regrouping. This gave him time to lay an ambush.
Grievous didn't have room to put Koon's lightsabers anywhere, so he hid it inside one of his chest plates. It would have to do for now. Then, he climbed above the doorway, and attached himself to the wall, high above in the shadows. The only light in the room came from the main reactor, a sphere of energy being contained by size field projectors. It flickered like fire. Soon, the five Jedi ran in, looking for them. Fisto would be the first to die, Grievous decided. He jumped down, landing heavily on the Jedi's back. He stumbled and struggled, but Grievous held on tight, clawing his back apart with his talons stabbing him with sabers. It was excessive, but he deserved it for invading Grievous's home. The General stowed Fisto's lightsaber in his chest plate as well. The others were horrified at the bloody work of Grievous. Windu stepped forward, anger in his eyes. Ahsoka's eyes were filled with rage, as were Aayla's. Grievous laughed at them. "See, Jedi, that is the price you pay for invading my home." Grievous said to the body of Fisto.
He charged the remaining four, one of his lightsabers striking one of theirs. He began to land blow after blow against all of them, singling out the weakest of them, Ahsoka. But his attention was diverted when Mace Windu force-pushed him down. Grievous targeted him. All four lightsabers began clashing with his purple one, neither of the two refusing to give away. They were equals, it appeared. Until Windu gave away and backed off, weary of the cyborg's mechanical strength. Shaak Ti, Secura, and Tano attacked. Grievous towered over them, the look of superiority in his eyes, spinning his blades, and adding to the kaleidoscope of colors already flashing about the room. All was going well for the CIS's Head of State until Windu rejoined the fight. He landed a force push square in Grievous's chest, sending him flying back into the hallway. Grievous's breath was knocked out of him, and he scuttled on all size limbs into another shadowy passage, luring the Jedi into another trap of his. As soon as he found a cleaning closet, he stepped into it, and waited. His audio receptors picked them up long before any normal person could hear them.
The tall cyborg leapt out of the cleaning closet and attacked them right as they got to where he was. They were surprised. So surprised, Aayla was, that she didn't raise her lightsaber to block Grievous when he stabbed her. She wasn't dead, but she would be soon if she didn't get medical attention. Shaak Ti dragged her way. Grievous didn't care, and yet he knew it'd come back to bother him one day. Now it was Ahsoka and Mace Windu left. Windu pulled another force push, and sent Grievous crashing into a large storage room. His lightsabers went tumbling under an especially large crate. Not good. So the general crouched, waiting for them to separate. Windu said some words to Ahsoka, and they did indeed spilt up. Bad mistake. Grievous lifted a crate, and threw it at Windu. The Jedi was either knocked out or dazed. But that left Ahsoka to get rid of. He beard down on her, and lightsabers or no lightsabers, he looked intimidating. She ran at him with her saber, but her merely swatted her out of the way. Now she was unarmed. Grievous stomped down, but missed her head. He tried to smash her with his feet several times, but she was too fast. Perhaps a broken rib would slow her down.
Grievous landed a punch that could dent metal in her side. He heard a good snap. Unfortunately, no blood. Yet. He lifted her up by the neck and tossed her over his head. She slammed into the wall, bleeding from the head. Good. Grievous laughed, and hit her again; hard enough send her sailing twenty feet through the air. She screamed in pain as he grabbed her leg and slammed her against the ground again. Ahsoka was now bloodied and battered, no condition to fight. But that didn't stop him. He picked her up again and swung her around into a crate. This was too fun. Grievous lifted her now body with his talon smashed it into the ground. She was almost gone. And now, for his final display, stood her up, drew back his hand, and drove it claws first into her body, sharp fingers ripping apart organs and flesh alike. With his other hand, he tore on of her arms. He ignored the piercing screams, and stuck both hands inside of the wound he had created below her neck. In a final display of brutality, he tore her open. She wasn't gone yet, still barely alive. "How's this for irony?!" Grievous yelled, and stabbed her through the head with Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber. Ahsoka Tano was dead, a triumphant Grievous splattered with gore stood over her.
The General, in his victory, had forgotten about Mace Windu. The cyborg moved the crate his lightsabers were under, with some effort, and grabbed hold of them. He picked up Ahsoka's from the gory mess that was her remains, and placed it inside his chest plate, along with Koon's and Fisto's. Three down, three to go. Grievous suddenly remembered Windu, and advanced to the fallen Jedi as he tried to get up. The CIS Head of State lifted up the purple-saber wielding man, and threw him a good twenty feet. Grievous wished he had stabbed him, but he was still in the set of mind to toy with his opponents. He snapped out of it. Windu, too weary to fight right now, climbed into an air vent and escaped. Grievous decided to hunt down Secura and Ti. Because of Secura's stab wound, Grievous thought the logical place to go was the medical area. The general stalked through the dark halls, and climbed up a turbo lift shaft, until he got to the right floor. He stalked along the corridors, and found the med bay. He heard talking inside.
"Did you hear those screams?"
"Yes… Oh Force, poor Ahsoka…"
"She deserved it!" Grievous knew that was the voice of Lord Jerithox.
"You sick…" The rest was cut off when Grievous stepped through the door.
"Yes, he is sick. Leave him alone, he needs rest. Now if you two would surrender your arms, I'll give you a swift and painless death. After all, I have a battle out there to command." The General had just remembered that the Republic was out there attacking. The two Jedi, Aayla Secura and Shaak Ti turned on their lightsabers, ready to fight. Secura didn't look too good, though. "Very well, a slow death it is. Or worse." Grievous leapt at them, using only two sabers now. Grievous kicked Secura, causing her to cry out in pain as she crashed into a wall.
"Get out of here, Aayla!" Yelled Shaak Ti. Grievous didn't care about her, she was lesser quarry. Shaak Ti wasn't doing that well, faltering when the strong blows from Grievous's mechanical limbs bore down on her, smashing into her lightsaber's shining blue blade. Grievous laughed again, amused by the fight the weakening Jedi was putting up. Shaak Ti used the force to send a box flying at Grievous, which knocked him down. She poised her blade, about the stab the cyborg on the ground, when she collapsed unconscious. Lord Jerithox stood weakly behind her, holding the pole that mounted the screen that displayed his vitals.
"Good work, Lord Jerithox. I think you've earned your rest." Grievous told him, as the general picked up the Jedi's saber, and picked up the unconscious Jedi.
"Damn right I have, sir." He lay back down, and closed his eyes. Grievous would let Secura and Windu get away, Grievous was too tired to go after them. The general contacted some workers in the construction yard to turn the power back on. Soon enough, the lights flickered on, and Grievous carried Shaak Ti to the prison block. He tossed he in a cell, and gave her a good dose of Force suppressant. A Jedi prisoner! What fun he would have… For now, though, he had to get back to the space battle. Grievous ran back to where the fight had begun, over the body of Plo Koon, and grabbed his cloak. He placed all the lightsabers he had taken today in extra pockets. He was still laughing over the fact that he had killed Skywalker's apprentice with his own lightsaber. Grievous ran swiftly the halls, and back to where he had landed his fighter. Rushing by a window, and then stopping to look out it, Grievous saw an amazing sigh.
Cataclysm wasn't destroyed. In fact, it was inside the Republic fleet, leading the battle line, destroying many ships. Serenno and Independence weren't gone either. The Apocalypse Weapon was dead in space, and the Republic fleet was burning.
Nothing had gone wrong! Nothing at all! Everything had gone the way he wanted today! Grievous laughed. He laughed until he couldn't. Today was the perfect day.
Author's note: I spelt kaleidoscope right on my first try! I am winner! So, who thought Ahsoka's death was brutal enough? I think it was. Shaak Ti will now be featured in the story, but not a main character. I've read a ton of stuff about Grievous and Shaak Ti, but I assure you, this probably won't go in that direction. Too early to tell though. And Aayla Secura will be back, with a vendetta. Windu won't appear in action for a while, but he'll fight Grievous for one last time. Near the end of this story. But Jedi fighting is far from over. There's plenty of others left to kill.
For anyone who thinks that Plo Koon went down to easy, keep in mind he shoulder was hurt and his hand was cut off.
Why is this note so long? Uploader has been giving me "try again in a few minutes" for the past 6 or 7 hours…
And next chapter? SPACE BATTLE! Yes, next chapter will deal only with OOM-27 and Esera Corin. And no ponderings either. Just them commanding ships and fighting. Concurrent to this chapter. I think I might add some other people in, just for some more points of view. Maybe a droid marine, maybe a clone, maybe a Separatist ship captain. Leave your idea in a review.
