A/N: Ahoy everyone! I have returned with another chapter! I hope the number of those who gave favorable comments I received regarding the Grievous and Obi-Wan section on AO3 for the last chapter will enjoy their interaction in this chapter as well. Also, this is a very Grievous-filled chapter in general.
Since I've posted the last chapter, I finished the first Darth Bane novel and also the new Ahsoka novel. There's a lot of backstabbing in the Darth Bane novel. As might be expected given the subject matter. Really enjoyed the last part of the Ahsoka novel, though I wished there had been more to it.
I have quite a bit planned for the upcoming chapters, and I'm hoping that I can make them as fun to read as they were for me to think up!
The good news was that Grievous received an urgent call right before he had to respond to Kenobi. So he'd had to head back to his shuttle alone while he left Ronderu and Bentalais to keep an eye on his captive.
The bad news was that he'd decided he'd rather converse with the Jedi scum than his current caller.
Grievous looked down at the holo he held in his hand, trying to quell the irrational urge to crush it.
"This is a trap!" Hill said insistently, crossing his arms. "Do you really think Palpatine is going to give up this war, when the second it ends he will be out of a job?"
Grievous lidded his eyes. "I think if he betrays and attacks us during ceasefire talks that he will make many enemies on his own side. If he does that, we may soon have more worlds joining our cause."
Hill scowled. He was dressed in one of his many formal suits. Grievous felt a tinge of annoyance recalling the large amount of items the Muun had insisted were absolutely vital to him, including his extensive wardrobe.
"Be that as it may, I urge you to be on the alert for his inevitable betrayal," Hill said.
Grievous tilted his head. "You have some sort of grudge against Palpatine. Is that why you joined the Separatists?"
Hill narrowed his eyes. "No to your question. And as for your, it just so happens,correct assumption, you would too, if you knew what I do about him!"
"And that is...?"
"Palpatine is a murderer," Hill said.
"Of course he is," Grievous said. "This war has killed..."
Hill waved a hand dismissively. "That's not what I mean. I mean that he's directly killed in cold blood. He murdered Hego Damask!"
"Who?"
"The head of Damask Holdings!"
Grievous stared at the tiny holo blankly.
"My uncle!"The Muun had fisted his hands at his sides, his expression a scowl now.
"Oh," Grievous said. He did remember the uncle that Hill would often fondly reminisce about. He felt a slight feeling of relief. Usually he recognized the names of people who he had met or who were well-known, so he had begun to worry his memory was slipping. But Hill's uncle Hego had been dead before Grievous had ever had the misfortune to encounter Hill-Grievous had always suspected he would have disliked the man even more than his unpleasant nephew. In any event, Grievous did recall him now. "You mean the one you were always saying 'made you who you are today'? I can see how that could happen."
"Your extremely terrible sense of humor notwithstanding," Hill seethed, "I cannot afford for you to die. So I ask for you to take my warning seriously."
"Oh, I am," Grievous said. "I'm just wondering why I never heard of this before, even from you. Why has he never been brought to trial for this?" It was amazingly difficult to find credible information that would link Palpatine to shady deals of any kind. It was part of the reason Grievous had been suspicious of him-normal people, especially politicians, made mistakes. And normal people would sometimes be caught in those mistakes, especially when they occupied a position of such high scrutiny. A lack of such things in Palpatine's record suggested to Grievous not that he had never committed such indiscretions, but rather that he had never been caught in them. Still, Hill's accusation went beyond even what Grievous had suspected of the Republic Chancellor.
Hill looked faintly embarrassed. "I-don't have any evidence." His expression hardened. "But I know it was him!"
"I believe you," Grievous said.
Hill looked surprised. "You do?"
"Yes," he said. Grievous could tell when the Muun was lying, and he could see that there was no deception now. San Hill was positive that what he was saying was true-at some point Grievous would want to know why, of course. Even if Hill had no evidence that would stand up in a court of law, the cyborg General could see that he must have proof of another sort. "Still, I think I can handle any treachery from Palpatine well enough. It is Sidious I must focus on. These negotiations would be the perfect opportunity for him to strike."
Hill frowned, his eyes wide. "That's true. You have to cancel these peace talks! You can't fight Sidious on his terms! He'll destroy you!"
Grievous laughed. "You mean like Dooku destroyed me?"
"Do not underestimate him! Dooku was his apprentice, remember?"
"Oh, I won't," Grievous said."But I also will not pass up this chance to finish him off. You worry too much, Mr. Hill. I have been planning for this since the moment I killed Dooku. I know what he is capable of."
"For this? How could you know that-all this would happen?"
"I didn't know the specifics," Grievous said. "But I realized this was not an opportunity he would pass up. I also know that he will not leave this up to his underlings, not with his apprentice so recently deceased."
"That's just great, then," Hill said sarcastically. "We're dead! I'm dead, you're dead, we're all dead! My only consolation is that Sheev Palpatine will die too when Sidious bombs the very public location of your peace talks to oblivion!"
"Actually, I know he won't do that," Grievous said.
"Really. And why wouldn't he?"
"Because it's personal now," Grievous said. "I've defied him. He needs to watch me die."
"How do you know that?"
"I saw it in his eyes when he tried to crush the life out of me."
"All right," Hill said. "You're the tactician. Just-keep an eye on Palpatine, too. He is more dangerous than he appears."
"Noted."
"And make sure you get rid of Sidious's body when you kill him. I've done a lot of research on the Sith since I decided to turn against them, and there was this one called Darth Sion who kept himself alive solely through the power of his own spite-"
"That sounds about right," Grievous said."I'll keep a blaster set to disintegrate."
"So what was that all about," Kenobi asked the moment Grievous exited the shuttle. Glancing upward, Grievous saw with some relief that Ronderu was still watching the Jedi. The last thing he needed was for Kenobi to be wandering around on his own.
"Separatist business," Grievous finally responded. "Extremely confidential." He looked back at Ronderu and said in Kaleesh, "I'll take over watching him from here."
She nodded. "All right. Is he going to be following you around until the Republic delegation arrives? I don't think Bentalais is going to approve of you taking him to the strategy meeting."
"And what do you think?" he asked.
"Well, seeing as how he doesn't speak Kaleesh, I don't think we have anything to worry about. Especially since he seems to like you."
Grievous sighed. Looking around, he didn't see or otherwise detect anyone else in earshot, including Bentalais. "We will discuss this later."
"I expect so," Ronderu said, sounding faintly amused. "In any event, I have a victory party to get back to, so I'll leave you to-guard the prisoner." She walked back into the trees surrounding the clearing.
Grievous looked Kenobi up and down as he led him back into the shuttle. As much as he had projected confidence about his upcoming encounter with Sidious during his talk with Hill, he was all too aware that it would be no easy matter to take down the Sith Master. And while he had been planning to be thoroughly prepared for any surprises by Sidious, he knew there was one great advantage the Sith Lord had that Grievous did not.
An idea occurred to him. It was actually a really, really good idea. It was also one he absolutely hated. He took a deep breath. "Would you like to help me take down another Sith Lord," Grievous asked.
Kenobi's eyes widened. "Sidious."
Grievous inclined his head.
"You know where he is?"
"I know where he will be."
Kenobi gave him a puzzled look before understanding filled his eyes. "He's going to try to attack the peace talks!"
"I have no doubt of it. That would allow him to destabilize both the Republic and the Separatists." Grievous didn't see any point in mentioning what Hill had said about Palpatine. He assumed the Republic Chancellor was involved in some truly shady dealings if he had turned to murder to expedite them. But he doubted Obi-Wan would believe his warning without proof, which he was in even less of a position to give than Hill was at the moment. Anyway, Grievous had decided that Palpatine was clearly the lesser threat, one he could deal with if and when he survived the encounter with the Sith Lord.
"I will do everything in my power to assist you in bringing Sidious down, then," Kenobi said. He gave the cyborg general a small smile. "Although I do hope we will part on better terms than we did last time."
"I-apologize for that," Grievous said reluctantly. He began to pace, considering how his current plans should be altered to accommodate the Jedi's abilities. "However, I must admit that I am mostly concerned that we come out of this encounter at all. I have never seen Sidious fight, truly fight, but the single attack he made on me has convinced me that extreme caution is called for."
"He attacked you?!" Kenobi said. "How? What happened? How did you survive? Were you able to injure him...?"
Grievous held up a clawed hand. "Patience, Jedi...Kenobi. I will explain." He punctuated his words by another bout of restless pacing, his clawed feet clicking across the metallic floor. "I was not able to strike back. His attack on me was remote. Sidious used the Force to try to crush my lungs when I challenged his holo."
Kenobi's eyes widened. "He was able to attack you through a hologram?"
Grievous stopped his pacing and nodded.
"Long distance Force manipulation of that kind is-unheard of."
"I thought that might be the case," Grievous said. "Otherwise you Jedi could just send holos of yourself to fight this war."
Kenobi frowned, settling into one of the shuttle couches. "Even if we had such an ability, no Jedi would do that. That would be cowardly and dishonorable."
Grievous refrained from saying that he didn't see how either of those traits were incompatible with the values he had seen the Jedi display. He was trying to get Kenobi to help him, after all, not antagonize the Jedi Master. Still, he thought from the human's uncomfortable expression that Kenobi could sense his disagreement. "In any event," Grievous continued, "I was able to use an electric shock to short out the communication holo. Otherwise I have little doubt that Sidious would have killed me then and there."
Kenobi stroked his beard thoughtfully. "That is probably not the only ability this Sith Lord has that the Jedi have never heard of. My research of the ancient Sith indicated that they had a variety of unusual powers. While some of those powers were likely exaggerated, many of them were corroborated by numerous eyewitness accounts. Fortunately, it seems that many of the abilities the Sith learned had consequences so undesirable that even other Sith eschewed using them, or were lost due to their individualistic tendency to keep their most powerful abilities secret. Still, every Sith seemed to manage to devise new terrors to replace the old."
"So then even you don't know what he's capable of," Grievous said.
"I'm afraid you're right," Kenobi said. "Master Yoda would know more than I do, but it's been over a thousand years since the last war with the Sith. There is a lot that none of us know about them."
"But you have killed one Sith, and helped me to kill another. If anyone is able to help me destroy Sidious, it would be you."
Kenobi gave him a wide smile. "You give me too much credit. I don't know how I managed to defeat Maul. And it's clear to me that I wouldn't have been able to defeat Dooku on my own."
"Excessive humility can be as much of a hindrance to success as the most arrogant bravado," Grievous said. "I understand that you cannot be an expert in this area. But no one is. I just need to know anything you can tell me. And I will tell you everything I know about Sidious."
"I'll do my best, then," Kenobi said. "What does Sidious look like?"
Grievous tilted his head thoughtfully. "He's human. He always wears hooded robes, like your Jedi robes, but either black or red and blue. I have never been able to recall his facial features in much detail, nor have I had any success with having the computers match his face. I think he must obscure his appearance with the Force somehow. But I do know that his eyes are acid yellow. I've never seen a human with eyes like that before."
"It's a Sith thing," Kenobi said. "Their eyes turn yellow from their use of the Dark Side."
"I used to work with Ventress, and her eyes were never yellow," Grievous said.
"That's different," Kenobi said. "She's a Sith Acolyte, not a true Sith."
Grievous snorted. "That's not what she said. Anyway, Dooku was certainly a Sith, and sometimes I saw his eyes turn bronze, but never bright yellow."
Kenobi shrugged. "I suppose you know more about this topic than I do, then. Come to think of it, I remember Maul had bright yellow eyes, too, but rimmed in red."
Grievous sighed. "I doubt this information will do us much good."
"On the contrary," the Jedi said. "If you remember his eye color, then perhaps that is something he can't hide. It may help us to identify him."
"I don't think we will have any problem identifying Sidious when he tries to kill us."
"I mean identify where he's been hiding on Coruscant," Obi-Wan clarified, standing abruptly from the shuttle couch. "We know he's there, we've just never had any information to help us look for him. But your information could help us find him!"
"We're going to be fighting him here," Grievous said. "If we get out of this alive, that will mean that he is dead. Understand that I do not intend to spare him, and I will fight until my last breath if need be."
Kenobi's expression was solemn. "I understand. But we may not win. We may not get out of this alive. And if we don't, someone needs to know anything we've discovered that may help them find and defeat him. Let me talk with the Council-they might even be able to catch him before he leaves!"
Grievous' first instinct was to refuse outright. He might be willing to grant that Kenobi deserved a second chance, but he still despised the Jedi. Still, Obi-Wan was right. Fighting Sidious to his last breath might not be enough. And if it wasn't, he'd have to fight the Sith Lord past his last breath. And the Jedi were the most powerful enemies that the Sith had.
If only they weren't his enemies, too. He craned his head to look Kenobi in the eye. "I'll think about it."
Kenobi frowned. "We're running out of time."
"Yes, but I do not work for the Jedi, and your friends have much to answer for. So do you, even if you were not involved in their worst crimes. Still, I think you do want to help make things right. So I will tell you everything I know about Darth Sidious. Though I will need you to tell me everything you know."
Kenobi gave him a puzzled look. "About what?"
"The Force."
