RolePlay! Episode 36: A new ally.
* the intro shows Darth Sidious and Cad Bane fighting.*
(Whispers in the Dark-Skillet song.)
No, you'll never be alone
*The screen shows Richard fighting Grievous.*
When darkness comes I'll light the night with stars
*Then it shows me and the others seeing Palatine's hologram*
Hear my whispers in the dark
*Now it shows the clones fighting alongside with us, against the Empire clones.*
No, you'll never be alone
*Then, it showed Godzilla and the Zillo Beast fighting with us.*
When darkness comes you know I'm never far
*Then, it shows us fighting against the villains.*
Hear the whispers in the dark
*The intro ends with Godzilla rising from the surface, with some kind of armor on him and roared at the sky.*
Whispers in the Dark
*The scene changes showing Richard, Alaya and Terriermon observing the mysterious structure in front of them.*
Me: Just as I suspected, there is nobody here, it was abandoned because of threats from creatures and also Separatist attacks.
Terriermon: Well, let's see what we can find then.
*The three then made their way inside the facility.*
*And at the facility in question, inside the building that Terriermon had spotted, the lights were on and the machines were very much active. Robotic hands manipulated several of the controls as a number of droids monitored the various screens in front of them, diligently carrying out what they were programmed to do without question.
A couple of tall beings stood nearby in the corner partially hidden in the shadows and murmuring q quietly to one another; one of them looking and sounding very annoyed about something or other and the other one, the taller one, responding to the other one with a calm and calculating patience.
A pair of doors to the main control room slid open and the voices of the two beings in the corner dulled as a third being entered the room, cloak billowing behind him and his feet clicking on the floor as he walked up to the droids monitoring the machines.
One of the droids turned around on its swivel chair and said, in the high, reedy voice of all Separatist battle droid.*
Droid: General, there's still been no contact from Darth Sidious. No encrypted messages or personal calls or anything like that of any kind.
*General Grievous growled and placed a clawed hand on the back of the droids chair to stare at the machines himself, his duranium grip almost crushing the metal of the chair as his yellow eyes narrowed.*
Grievous: Rrggh! How long does he expect us to wait like this before we receive our next set of instructions?
San Hill: You should have more patience, Grievous. He only gave us the order to lay low for a few days yesterday. I'm sure you'll get your next order against the Republic soon enough.
Nute Gunray: It can't come too soon for me, either. The sooner I can leave this wretched place and the company of that miserable droid general the happier I'll be.
*Grievous snarled and whipped around to glare at the 1000 Viceroy, who immediately tried to hide behind Hill. Grievous cursed his loyalty to Sidious and the fact the Sith Lord had ordered him not to kill Gunray, or the wormy Nemoidian would have been long dead by now. But he agreed with the slimy Trade Federation Separatist in one thing, the sooner they could get out of this secret Separatist base and away from each other the better.
Still, Grievous was really looking for something to vent his spleen on, and with the limited number of battle droids he had here he couldn't afford to smash them like he normally would.
And, although he didn't know it, a certain raptor that Grievous still hadn't learned was even still alive was not far away, pulled by a creature that Grievous had never even heard of before. And they were heading right towards them.*
*Image scene: Shark moves camera to the next stage.*
*The camera shows only Richard and Alaya walking around the facility, unsure of what they're seeing.*
Me: I wonder if someone evil would use this place as either a hideout, or something. * turn to the two.* What do you bet?
"I'm... not sure," she replied. "It's just... oh, I don't know. Forget it."
"What?" Terriermon asked, as Aayla turned back around and settled into a sitting position with her legs folded in a semi-lotus as she took up a meditation pose. "Come on, you can tell me. What is it?"
"Oh, it's nothing much," Aayla shrugged. "It's just that I can feel something familiar about this place, thought I have no idea what it might be seeing as I've never been here before."
"But you don't like it," Terriermon observed as he walked past her to take his turn at peering around the crates. He could see little out of the ordinary himself, so he turned around and asked, "What kind of familiar? Bad news kind of familiar or familiar as in déjà vu?"
"I don't know," Aayla shrugged. "It's probably just me, but... I can also feel a deep and almost overwhelming sense of hatred coming from somewhere nearby, and I'm not entire sure what it is."
"The Dark Side?" Terriermon asked warily, his ears raising almost involuntarily as he readied himself for a fight even though there were no enemies in sight.
"No, not the Dark Side," Aayla shook her head. "Unless it was deliberately masking itself from me, I would definitely be able to sense the Dark Side, and if it was masking itself from me then I probably wouldn't be feeling anything at all. It's just a faint sense of hatred. Burning hatred," she shuddered.
"Well, this place used to be a Separatist facility," Terriermon pointed out. "Or so we can assume from the old, faded Separatist symbols on the walls of those buildings. Could that have something to do with it?"
"Probably," Aayla nodded. "It is true that a lot of Separatist facilities do leave behind an imprint upon a Jedi's senses, as it was constructed due to the fact the Sith were trying to rule over everything so forget it. It's probably not important. Let's just wait for the others to arrive and we'll go from there."
Terriermon looked towards Aayla, but it was clear to see that she still felt slightly uncomfortable about something and was trying to meditate to force it from her mind. He frowned and looked back towards the main building once again. He couldn't use the Force like Aayla could but he knew enough about it to know that Jedi were good at detecting strong emotions. It didn't look like this place had anything in particular to worry about, but still...
"Look, if it makes you feel any better then how about I go and have a look around?" Terriermon suggested, raising his arms and grinning. "If there's some reason for you to be 1000 uncomfortable then I'll find it and let you know. If there isn't then you can just relax and get a load off your mind?"
"You want to go scouting?" Aayla asked.
"Sure, why not?" Terriermon shrugged. "It'll give me something to do over the next half hour or so and keep me from finding a way to plot my revenge for you splashing me like you did earlier."
Aayla smiled and said, "I know full well that no amount of keeping yourself busy could ever keep you from plotting revenge."
"Well, maybe," Terriermon grinned. "But look, I can see a ventilation system over there. I'll go and have a little sneak around in that building over there and have a looksie for any weird goings-on in there. And then I can come back out and tell you that there's no problems whatsoever and it'll make you feel better and when the cruiser comes to pick us up we can get them to blow this place to kingdom come."
He was already moving as he was speaking, preparing to step out from behind the crates and head for the main building, but Aayla reached out and latched onto his ear before he had the opportunity to do so.
"Terriermon, it could be dangerous," she said.
"You said yourself that its probably nothing," Terriermon reminded her.
"Yes, but it doesn't change the fact that I can still sense some kind of deep, deep hatred from somewhere around here, and it may not be the Dark Side but I do sense that it is partially aimed at me. Plus there's the structural integrity of the place to worry about as well."
"Eh, I'll be fine," Terriermon said. "I've been in collapsing buildings before."
"Yes, but you've probably had Henry with or near you at the time so he can make you grow bigger to escape or blow something up," Aayla said.
"Whatever," Terriermon said. "Momentai. I'll be careful. And I'll stick to the vent system. Nobody will even know I'm there. Even thought everyone seems to use the vent system when they want to sneak around. If there's someone in there then I'm hardly going to jump out and scream hello, am I?"
Aayla chuckled. "No, I suppose not," she said.
"I'll be in and out," Terriermon nodded. "See you in a bit."
Before Aayla could stop him he had rolled out from behind the crate and lifted himself into the air and zoomed across the space between Aayla and the main buildings. He veered around the outside of the smaller buildings, over the ocean once more and then back through the gap between the two buildings and swooped low across the wall, until he was standing some way beneath the grate for one the vent openings sticking out of the walls.
He smirked up at it and murmured, "Cake," and then sprang upwards, grabbing the grate in his small hands and moving it out slightly, flapping hard to try and stay aloft before he moved himself into the grate and quickly pulled it back into place behind him.
He turned around and was graced with the dark corridor of most ventilation systems. He rubbed his hands together and breathed out slightly before he slowly and quietly made his way through the tunnel and towards the far end.
Unbeknownst to him, inside the facility, a couple of battle droids were still monitoring the computer equipment, knowing full well that if they stopped doing their jobs for any reason that wasn't important, General Grievous would probably knock their heads off just for kicks.
One of the battle droids was alternately scanning the computers in search of any incoming transmissions and then glancing briefly across at the surveillance footage before turning back. On one particular instance though, he looked, turned back and then immediately looked again because his photoreceptors had spotted something for a brief instance which had not registered in his processor for several moments.
"Hey, what was that?" he murmured.
"What was what?" asked another droid.
"I'm not sure," the droid replied. "I thought I saw something small and white flash across the screen on one of the outside holocams for a split second before it vanished again. It could just have been dust or something, but I don't know."
"Still, we better report it to the General," said the other droid. "General," he called across the room, to where Grievous was standing in the corner and experimentally twirling one of his lightsaber hilts, testing the new half hand that had been attached after part of his old one had been cut off by Aayla Secura above Rhen Var a few days ago.
"What is it?" Grievous growled, hoping that it might be an incoming transmission from Sidious telling him that he could leave or at least do away with Gunray – he and Hill had left the room a while ago.
"We think we saw something on the security feed, sir, but we're not sure if it was just a blip or whether it was something genuine."
Grievous frowned and stalked forwards to stare at the monitors for a moment. He saw nothing out of the ordinary so he said, "Scan the area for any signs of activity."
"Roger, roger," nodded the droid and began to use a control panel to cause the holocams mounted on the walls to swing around and scan more of the area as Grievous searched the area for any signs of life. It might have just been a bird, but Grievous had long since learned not to take chances.
* Terriermon is running down the vent and heard some people talking.*
Terriermon didn't usually make first impressions of people just based on sound, but he did this time. The two voices he could hear made him picture very slimy people.
He lifted his ears and listened, as he inched further down the tunnel and towards the voices.
"I don't understand what he is playing at to be frank," said one of the two voices. "It seems to be pretty clear to me that the war is over and yet here we are, waiting for the order to launch a massive attack on the enemy once again. We have lost. Let us just take what we can and salvage everything instead of just putting more and more of our expenses into a futile gesture."
"If you want my opinion," the slightly more nasal second voice responded, "I have faith in Lord Sidious. I am pretty sure that he has a big plan to pull out fat out of the fire, so to speak. The Republic won't know what hit them when the attack comes, I am sure of it."
Terriermon frowned as he arrived at the grate and peered through into the room beyond. It was a small room and it contained three people, although one of them was just standing subserviently nearby. Two Nemodians and a Muun, if Terriermon could guess their species right.
And his eyes widened when he saw them because he was pretty sure he knew who the two people who were speaking were. He had never seen either of them in person, but he thought he recognized one of the Nemoidians to be Nute Gunray from some holograms that had been shown to him before they raided the Separatist listening post above Rhen Var which was supposed to hold Gunray but did in fact hold three deadly people out to kill Aayla.
And the other speaker, the Muun, had to be San Hill, the leader of the Banking Clan who had managed to elude them on Saleucami. The two most slippery members of the Separatist council and the only two of any importance that were still not held in custody by the Jedi on board the Negotiator, which would be on Tython by now.
But what were they doing here?
"With Count Dooku in prison, the droid armies are going to be led by that droid General," Gunray complained. "And I for one do not believe that he can pull such a thing off. He does not have the same subtlety and skill in directing warfare as the Count did."
Terriermon frowned. It seemed that these two hadn't heard that Sidious had declared himself Emperor and freed Count Dooku from prison – they were talking as if he still was. Terriermon wasn't all that surprised to be honest. Palpatine didn't need them anymore and he'd been a bit too preoccupied with trying to wipe out the Jedi to remember to deal with them.
"Be fair to Grievous," San Hill turned towards the shorter being. "He has brought the Separatist cause more victories than any other commander in our armies. And I would prefer it if you didn't talk about my finest creation like that, Gunray, as I have told you before?"
Say what? Terriermon thought. Finest creation? Grievous? Him? What the heck is he talking about?
*Image scene: Shark moves camera to the next stage.*
*The two arrived in front of the building, and they could see that the door to it was slightly ajar.
If they had to hazard a guess, they would say that that building served as a hangar for this place. The roof could open up to allow ships to drop inside, where they would be protected from the spray of the sea and wouldn't risk damage due to rust or to salt finding its way into unwanted places.
They could feel their curiosity rising though. The door was slightly open, tempting them to step out and have a look inside, both to try and confirm their theory and to settle, once and for all, whether there was any reason to worry about this place. If there was anyone here, then there would be a ship in there, and if there was a ship in there, they might be able to judge how recently it had been used.
Eventually it got the better of her and she clambered to her feet, peering around the side of the crates. they could see a couple of holocams mounted in a couple of places on the walls, but she had no way of knowing if they were on or if they could even function. Nevertheless, they did not want to take any chances.
They promptly cleared their mind and focused on placing their bodies out of sight of any prying eyes, raising their Force cloak ability and bending the light waves around them to ensure that they wouldn't be picked up even by the holocams. They slowly stepped out from behind the crates and invisibly walked over the doors of the smaller building.
The doors were not open enough to allow her to get inside, and, after a quick glance around, she placed a hand on the door and eased it open slightly to stick her head inside and have a look around.
*With Grievous…*
"What was that?" Grievous demanded from within the complex.
"What was what, sir?" asked one of the droids.
"That? The hangar door moved on its own for a moment there," Grievous growled impatiently. They still hadn't seen anything on the holocams and he was beginning to wonder whether he should bash the droid's head in for giving a false alarm when he spotted that.
"I didn't see anything, sir," the battle droid replied.
Grievous snarled at their ineptitude and swung around towards the doors, flinging the chair he had been gripping and the battle droid in it across the room as he whipped his large cloak off his shoulders and grabbed a pair of his lightsabers and rasped, "Useless battle droids! I'm going out there to search for a breach myself."
He pushed the door open and marched out of the room as the battle droid sat up and rubbed its mechanical head, its fellows giving them the best sympathetic looks they could with faces that didn't move.
"Well, at least you still have your head," one of them said. "Unlike poor OM86."
"Yeah, but for how much longer," said the droid as it got to its feet. "It seems to me that the General gets more mad at us with every passing day. If he doesn't get away from here to start killing things soon, we're all done for."
*Image scene: Shark moves camera to the next stage*
*It took both of their eyes a couple of seconds to adjust to the darkness inside the smaller building. The bright sun of Minntooine combined with the cloudless sky had meant that even when she was deep under the water she could still see clearly and now they were plunged into almost complete darkness for a moment she could see nothing for a few moments.
Gradually their eyes began to adjust the gloom and the first thing that they saw was definitely not something that they wanted to see. The silhouette of a Sheathipede-class shuttle which was resting on the far side of the hangar began to appear in her vision, which gradually adjusted more to the light to confirm that it really was that kind of ship. That in itself was not particularly good news, as those kinds of shuttles were often used by members of the Separatists.
What was less encouraging was that it still seemed to be in a good state of repair as if it had only been used a few days ago. It certainly wasn't collecting dust like just about every other thing in the room.
As their eyes began to adjust more to the darkness and she inched to door open a little wider to let in some more light, they became aware of a second, smaller vessel between them and the shuttle. They stared at it for a couple of seconds as it faded into view and what they saw shocked them. It looked like a Belbullab-22 starfighter, with several modifications made to it, a small black ship with large thrusters on either side and a very small amount of yellow stripes on various parts of the hull.
The two stared at it in bemusement for a couple of seconds before they stepped back in shock, eyes wide as they realized that they knew this ship. They had seen it before in holograms and based on some of Anakin's previous encounters with this particular ship. They even knew the ship's name.
The Soulless One.
And if they remembered correctly, that ship belonged to...
The doors of the main building slid open and both whirled around to be confronted with a very, very familiar skeletal looking cyborg with metallic duranium body, long arms, taloned feet and a skull-like mask. General Grievous.
Their eyes widened in shock and horror as they realized they were facing the owner of the ship in the hangar, and they also saw that Grievous' yellow, reptilian eyes fixed upon her and bulged in what remained of their sockets, and it was at that moment that they realized that they had lost her concentration on her Force cloak and caused it to drop, which meant that he could very definitely see them.
Richard, Alaya and Grievous: *with sounds of shock in their tones but with a great deal of anger thrown in for Grievous.* You! *Both Richard and Alaya immediately flipped away from the door and plucked both lightsabers, holding the hilts ready just in case Grievous decided to charge straight away.
But evidently, for the moment, Grievous was too stunned to do anything as he beheld the raptor in front of him. He didn't have the ability to use expression very much since the only part of his face that moved were his eyes, but the way that they were wide and the fact that his limbs were much more slack than normal clearly indicated his surprise.
Grievous couldn't believe it. He was pretty sure that if he was a complete droid instead of a cyborg, he would have short-circuited at the sight of the raptor that was standing in front of him. Not only was it a complete mystery to him as to how the two got here – incoming ships would have been detected before they got within a couple of miles of the station so they couldn't possibly have flown down (especially since they had no ship with her at the moment), but there was one other detail that accounted for Grievous' surprise.
Grievous: * gave out his equivalent of a gasp* Richard! *Then his eyes hardened and he stabbed a claw in his direction and declared* You're supposed to be dead!
Me: I hate to tell you this Grevious, Cad Bane didn't kill me, he was about to, but Me and JD gave him 30 millions credits, to expose Sidious' true idenity.
* I chuckle at this and wait for a reponse.*
Grievous: *growled* I knew that we should never have trusted a common Bounty Hunter like this. *He chuckled evilly* I'm sure that my Master will be interested to learn you're still alive.
Richard: Yes, I'm sure he would.
Grievous: Too bad I'm going to be the one to kill you now, and then I'll be able to report that your truly are dead. But before I cut your head off, tell me – how did you find this place? This is one of our most secret of bases. Only a few members of the Separatists know about this place and almost all of them are currently in it.
Me: I hate to tell you this, but Sidious has left you and the battle droids to rust, he is not going to respond to you, you are doomed.
Grevious: How did you find this place!
Me: Simple, we were answering a distress call, but found out it was a trap, Sidious hired two more bounty hunters, Aurra Sing and Bok, those two thought they have killed me, but I made a copy of myself, and she elemated my copy, she is really stupid, no one can match against a CIA master spy, and now Sidious has made another mistake, he has lead us to you without even knowning it, and the cause you are fighting for is now completly nothing.
Grevious: What do you mean!
*But before Richard can respond, Grievous shook his head.*
Grievous: Bah! What am I doing? You left a big stain on my pride at our last parting, Richard!
*snarled furiously, as he paused in his stride to fix himself with a glare that would have blown him several miles away in pieces if looks could kill* Do you realise how humiliated I was when I found out that you collapsed onto the floor a few seconds after I left the room? This time is going to be different! This time, you die! You caught me off guard with all your fancy moves last time, Richard. *Grievous growled.* This time I am prepared for your fighting style. I shall avenge the Count and restore my honour. Besides, you can't imagine how good it is to actually see you. I was hoping for a rematch, but it was disappointed when I heard that the Bounty Hunter was the one to finally write you off. Ha! This is like a dream come true for me.
*He then takes out his four lightsabers, ready to fight Richard.*
Me: Hate to tell you this, but I got another form, but this time, I will use it.
* Then I turn into a ghost.*
Grievous: Bah! Do you think your new form can scare me, Richard?
Me: That wasn't part of the plan at all Grevious, but I can do more then what you think.
Grievous: Show me then!
* Then my eyes glowed, as Grevious felt himself being picked up and thrown to the edge, as he dropped his lightsabers, when he was picked up, as I am still am in my ghost form walk over to Grevious.*
Grievous: Bah! What trickery is this, Richard! Fight me like a man you are! Coward.
Me: I was just setting an example of how ghost work, besides you never know...
* I then vanish, as Grevious was on high alert, then I grab a chain, and hit Grevious without him knowning I was right behind him, as he fell to ground, as I finish saying.*
Me:...what I might do.
* As I reappear, then I toke Grevious' lightsabers and gave them to Alaya, as I then turned to Grevious and said.*
Me: If you really want to fight me Grevious, then try the little old fashion fist fight, unless you scared.
* I chuckle at this.*
*Grievous then growled in anger, and stood up*
Grievous: Fine then. I will accept your challenge. But you must fight me in your normal raptor form. Unless you're scared to face me.
* I chuckle at this.*
Me: See Grevious, I maybe be scared, but that doesn't mean, that I won't fight back.
Grievous: Then turn back into your raptor form, and let's fight. One on one.
Me: As you say so.
* I go back to being mortal, as we get ready to fight.*
Grievous: It'll be the pleasure to fight you once more, Richard.
*Grievous then charges in, with his four arms ready to fight.*
*I did a Chiness kick on Grevious, as I do a series of Jackie Chan moves on Grevious, then he was flew over me, when I threw him to the ground.*
*Grievous growls in rage, and starts to charge at Richard. Richard tried to do the same move on Grievous, but he dodged it, and hits Richard around him in utter rage, damaging Richard. Grievous then grabbed Richard and tossed him to a wall, as Richard got an impact on the wall.*
* Then I shake my head, as I fight Grevious again, I do the more Jackie Chan moves that he didn't know, as I fight against, then suddenly Terriermon threw the cap down on accident, as Grevious was blinded, then I did more moves on him, I then punched Grvious in the face, then I removed Grevious's cap, when Grevious tried to punch me, I used his cap against him, as I wrapped a around a few times where he couldn't use it, I kicked him the chest, then his legs, spun around hit him with my left arm, then threw far enough, until he hit a wall, as glass and metal pieces fell on him, but it didn't kill him, but it did hurt to him, he did not see that coming.*
Grievous: Bah! Hold still so that I can hit you!
* I do a handstand with only one hand as I say to Grevious.*
Me: Sorry, can't do that, besides you should have had more trainning Grevious or should I say, Qymaen jai Sheelal.
* Grevious was shocked as well as Alaya.*
Me: That right General, I know your real name, Ludwin told me, he also told me why want revenge on the Jedi, because the Jedi back the people that you called the enemy, wanted them destroyed because they toke your love away from you, so you wanted revenge on those people, but when the jedi intervered you renewed your revenge against the jedi, and if you call me a jedi, well let me tell you something, I not fully a jedi, I'm just a plain CIA that has powers, and I was not invovled in this, until you and Sidious dragged me into it, so I know you from what I did, and learned more information about you, now I fully know you, by every detail.
Grievous: But that doesn't show that you knew my name, Richard. I still know for the fact that the Jedi had planted an explosion on me.
Me: Ludwin told me that too. And I hate to tell you this, Sidious is not helping you, like I said before, he left you and those Battle droids to rust, because he found a different army, which is much better then droids.
Terriermon: That bit was more for Richard's benefit so he could follow this conversation and, also I was telling you the version of things that you think happened. But what if I was to tell you that the majority of that is not what you think at all?
"Huh?" Grievous asked incoherently.
"Allow me to explain with this," Terriermon said. "Did you know that Darth Sidious was a member of the Galactic Senate deliberately steering the Republic to do many things that would cause the war to go on for a long period of time?"
"Yes!" Grievous replied shortly.
"Well, do you know which member of the Senate he is?" Terriermon asked.
Grievous' silence gave him his answer, so he immediately said, "It's Chancellor Palpatine."
Aayla winced as Grievous immediately shouted "WHAT!" at the top of his lungs, which made him have another coughing fit for a moment. Aayla lifted a hand to her ear for a moment and Grievous stared incredulously at the small Digimon.
"It's true," Terriermon nodded. "You haven't been keeping up with current events have you? Did you know that the Supreme Chancellor, shortly after his last transmission to you in the guise of Sidious, turned the clone troopers against the Jedi and ordered that they all be hunted down?"
"He's right," Aayla nodded. "We discovered that Sidious and Palpatine were one in the same and he immediately ordered us to be exterminated once he found out. He's been playing both sides of the war."
Grievous was finding this difficult to stomach. Natural disbelief was making him reluctant to acknowledge what they were saying as true and he shook his head as if he was trying to clear it before he glared and said, "I do not believe you. This is a trick!"
"Oh no," Terriermon shook his head. "It was him who ordered the Bounty Hunters to attack us, which is why we're even here now. The Separatist cause was all a lie – he used you all to draw out a war with the intention of destroying the Jedi Order and turning the Republic into an Empire. It what he's planning to have to eradicated completely once he has dealt with the Jedi Order, which was able to survive thanks to some quick action."
Grievous growled and his hands were already reaching back for his lightsabers when Terriermon ploughed on with, "But among all the Separatists, you were the one he most heavily manipulated, Grievous."
Grievous faltered momentarily. He might hate the Jedi with a passion but he was a warrior, and the idea of being manipulated by anyone was something that he simply could not stomach. He had always maintained that he did not submit to anyone, that he was better that a droid and that he had taken his position as General of the Droid Armies by his choice alone.
He didn't believe Terriermon.
But what if he was right?
His urge to know more overwhelmed him and his lowered his hands again, his glare indicating to Terriermon that he should continue. Terriermon let out the breath he had been holding and went on.
"Sidious has been planning this war for years. He used the war on Naboo to put himself in power. He allowed the creation of the clone army to act as his Jedi exterminators. And shortly after he became the Supreme Chancellor, he began to cast about looking for a leader to carry out his plans and lead the opposing army. And guess who he picked."
Grievous' eyes widened slightly, but Terriermon was not done. "He deliberately made sure that when your people were pushed back by the Jedi and fell into debt that the Republic did not provide you with any aid, thus allowing you to be filled with hate at them, as you used to be one of their warlords. Then he encouraged San Hill, who was going to become a member of the Separatist council for a long time to support your planet. And you know what happened after that?"
Grievous said nothing, but he was now beginning to wonder. How did the little guy know this much? His origins had been kept a mystery to the Jedi for a reason, which had allowed him to make his devastating introduction to the Jedi Order in a fight that had actually allowed him to beat Aayla and a bunch of other Jedi at the same time due to the fact they had no idea what they were up against or what he could do and severely underestimated him.
There could only be one explanation. He really had been listening to San Hill and Nute Gunray speaking about him just now. And sure a story like this couldn't have been concocted on the spot and shared with Aayla in that time, could it?
"Count Dooku and San Hill were the ones who arranged that shuttle explosion that almost killed you. They planted a bomb on your ship and set it to explode and then deliberately saved your life and kept you alive so they could build that cyborg body of yours and plant you in it to become a General. I heard that you were actually reluctant at first and even when they deliberately added more injuries to try and convince you to do it and it still didn't work. And of course, they blamed the Jedi for the explosion."
Me: If you don't take our word for it. Then watch this video. One of our Digimon friends sneaked in and recorded it. The camera never lies, it never has and it never will, and it is real.
* As I play the video.*
*Grievous watched the video of the revelation of Sidious. After the revelation...*
"You are lying!" Grievous bellowed and took a threatening step forward, but this time Terriermon held his ground. The former Kaleesh warlord snarled down at the bunny and, Richard and at Aayla, but something was stopping him from charging and crushing the life out of these three adversaries.
The ever-so faint inkling that Terriermon might be telling the truth was festering in his mind. The words that were spilling out of Terriermon's mind were torturing his brain and making him doubt everything that he knew about the Separatist cause. The things he said were ridiculous and the majority of him was screaming at himself that it must be false, but there was a sliver of his mind that was yelling even louder that it might just be possible.
He had seen this sort of thing before in the past. He had seen Count Dooku using certain officials and dignitaries and other important people to get what he wanted before he quickly disposed of them. He had seen the man making false promises and lies and using deception to meet his own ends right before his very eyes.
Sidious could only be the same.
Was it possible that he had been manipulated in the same way?
He knew San Hill well enough. The Muun was a greedy and officious man who definitely wanted the war to continue due to the money that was being put into his pocket and so Grievous had no trouble believing that he might have had a part in a plot such as this. He had never trusted Hill a great deal, but had gone into his service because he felt a need to protect his people.
And over the course of the war, he had gradually forgotten about his fellow Kaleesh and become more and more intent on killing Jedi.
He blinked and stepped back, a ragged equivalent of a gasp coming out of his voice modulator. He had wives and children back home on Kalee, but he had not thought about any of them for months. He had been too focused on exterminating any Jedi he could and crushing Republic systems that he hadn't given them any thought. He had been dedicating everything to the the Separatists.
He was a like a weapon, obeying the every whim of its master.
Just like Terriermon was saying.
Was it possible? Was what he was saying really possible?
He suddenly clutched his head as he felt a horrific headache coming on as his mind raged against itself and his eyes screwed shut. And then he realised something else. Aayla could easily be taking advantage of his stress and cut him down or incapacitate him, but she was doing nothing.
Could it be?
After several moments of furious internal struggling his eyes snapped open and seemed to stare through Aayla. He had to know. He had to know if it was really true. Terriermon was making all too much sense. He could remember things about his homeworld on Kalee, fighting against the Huk. He remembered a name, his name – Qymaen Jai Sheelal – a name he had not thought about for months.
And he remembered a female.
Ronderu lij Kummar.
The woman he had loved most in the Galaxy. He had not thought about her either. Her memory seemed to have gone to the back of his mind.
Or perhaps it had been suppressed.
That decided it. He instantly whirled around, putting Aayla on alert at the sudden movement, but he stepped away from her and stormed towards the doors of the facility with vicious clicks of his talons. He vowed that if this was a trick then he would come out and tear them to pieces with his bare hands – they weren't going anywhere. But he had to know the truth. The truth that was beginning to make all too much sense.
The doors slid open to admit him as he marched inside and then they slid closed behind him.
Aayla glanced at Terriermon and said, "Well, that was unexpected."
"Yeah," nodded Terriermon. "Imagine that. Grievous actually walked away without trying to kill you and without thinking he was beaten. I must have hit a nerve with those words."
"Several nerves, if I'm not mistaken," Aayla looked up at the doors with a sigh. "Was all that true?"
"Oh yeah, every word," nodded Terriermon. "I really did overhear Hill and Gunray talking about it. I do not relish being either one of them right now."
"Indeed not," Aayla agreed, without taking her eyes away from the doors. For the first time in her life, she was actually feeling pity for Grievous. She had never felt anything more than contempt for him before. To her, he had just been the brutal, murdering butcher who had killed so many of her fellow Jedi, some of them right in front of her. He had almost killed her on numerous occasions, kidnapped Ahsoka, almost killed Anakin and had been responsible for the suffering and death of millions of people throughout the Clone Wars.
And now she was feeling pity towards him.
Just how much weirder was this day going to get?
"You up for following him?" she asked.
Me: Yeah, this time we are going to storm inside with Grevious and have him learn that it is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Let's go!
* We run inside and found Grevious again, and this time, I told him what I had in mind, as we planned a sudden storm in, and we must have the battle droids on our side, then we finally agreed to this plan, as I told Grevious that if he learns the truth and he and battle droids under his command join us, driods can be improved, and Grevious can finally no longer be used as a weapon, but instead be a true person for who he is, despite what people say or think about him.*
*Few minutes later...*
Gunray groaned and pounded the arm of the chair he was sitting in with frustration. "Ugh, I hate just sitting here and cowering in the shadows," he exclaimed. "Where are the funds that Sidious promised us? Where is the victory that was guaranteed when we signed the treaty? We have been doing little but giving money to a fruitless cause."
"Patience," Hill chuckled and added, "Do not forget that the Sith are versatile. I am sure that they will eventually figure a way out of this fix."
"Well, it can't come soon enough for my liking," Gunray folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. "I have a good mind to stand up and walk out on this whole business right now."
"And go where exactly?" Hill asked. "The only safe place for us is right here under General Grievous' protection."
Gunray was about to say he would feel safer in the mouth of an Opee Sea Killer when the doors slid open and Grievous himself stood framed in the doorway. The cyborg General had his fists clenched at his sides and he was standing tall like a some terrible hulk, his eyes practically blazing out from the shadow of the dark corridor so fiercely that they almost seemed to glow compared to the rest of his duranium body.
Gunray almost jumped out of his skin at the terrifying visage and had to resist the urge to hide behind Ruun Haako, but San Hill seemed to take it all in his stride. "Ah General," he acknowledged without actually looking. "We were just talking about the Separatist's plans for the future. Any transmission from Sidious yet?"
Grievous didn't answer. He just glared at San Hill with such intensity that he could almost have willed him to disintegrate into ash and be blown away by a non-existent wind. Hill frowned at the lack of answer and turned around to face the General, looking concerned at the expression on Grievous' face.
"Is there a problem, General?" Hill asked. "You look awfully peeved about something."
Grievous took a step inside the room and slowly growled, "Is it true?"
Hill blinked. "Is what true, Grievous? You may have to be a little more specific."
"Don't play games with me, Hill," Grievous snarled. "Any more games that is. Is it true that you took advantage of the suffering of my people to get me to become a General in this army? Is it true that you and Count Dooku were responsible for the shuttle explosion that almost killed me?"
"What?" Hill cried looking alarmed and suddenly very nervous. "Uh... of course not, my good General. What reason would I have to do such a thing? It was the Jedi who were responsible for the shuttle explosion – you know that. Why would I try and kill one of my best agents in such a manner?"
"To deliberately force me to need a cyborg body, perhaps," Grievous snarled as he stepped past an equally nervous pair of Nemoidians and focused an even greater burning ferocity towards the nervously shifting Muun. "And to become a weapon for you and the Count to use against the Jedi. A tool, if you will? Might that be motivation enough for you to deliberately mutilate my body and frame someone else?"
"Uh... where did you hear such things, my good General?" Hill blustered shrinking back from Grievous' burning eyes. "What could possibly make you think of such false allegations?"
"If the allegations are false," Grievous snarled, "then why are you so afraid? What reason 1000 would you have to be afraid if you were telling the truth?"
"Well... well, well... uh... er... you're a... a very imposing figure, Grievous and... and don't take this the wrong way but we know that your temper can sometimes get the better of you and..."
"My rage, you mean?" Grievous snarled and took another step closer. "The rage which you artificially enhanced by tampering with my mind even though I explicitly forbade you from doing so? That rage? And suppressing some of my more fond or painful memories? Was that you're doing as well? Did you violate our agreement to turn me into an even more effective weapon?"
Hill gulped and fell out of the chair he was sitting in, scrabbling back as Grievous took another step forward and the Muun started babbling, "Now, now, now, General, wait a moment before you jump to conclusions. I... I, I, I would never do such a thing as you are suggesting. The... the... yes, you are a very effective Jedi Killer but you can't possibly..."
Gunray was beginning to see that this situation was getting way out of hand and immediately tried to head quietly for the door, but Grievous' enhanced audio-receptors picked him up and he swung around to grab Gunray by the robes and fling him back into the room, knocking over Ruun Haako as they both hit the wall. "You're not going anywhere until we've sorted this out!" he roared, then he turned back to Hill.
"Grievous... Grievous, calm down," Hill said as he scrabbled to the back wall and pressed himself up against it as the cyborg advanced still further. "You have my word that I did none of those things which you just said."
"I have seen you give your word to others before," Grievous snarled. "And I know for a fact that your word has little merit behind it. What makes you think I should believe you this time when I have seen you lie to so many others with false promises."
"Well... er... I am your friend, Grievous," Hill tried.
"Wrong!" Grievous shouted. "I have no need for friends! I have never trusted you completely and now I learn this! I also heard that you tried to make my injuries even worse when I was unconscious after the crash in an attempt to make me agree to become this!" He slammed a metal fist into his thick armoured chest. "And it all makes too much sense! What proof can you give me that you did not do any of those things!"
"Just tell me... tell me where you heard such terrible things," Hill tried. "These... these false accusations that..."
"Oh, stop it, Hill!" Gunray babbled in his cowardly panic. "It's obvious that he overheard us talking before. I knew that we shouldn't have be speaking of such things! These walls aren't as thick as you thought!"
Grievous' heart thudded and his fists clenched so fast he almost started cutting grooves in his metal palms with his fingers. He rounded towards Gunray and shouted, "So, it is true then?" he roared.
"Yes, yes! It is true!" Gunray wailed. "He and Dooku did plan to turn you into a weapon against the Jedi and it worked. But I had no part in this plan, Grievous, I swear!"
Grievous had no problem believing that given Gunray's blatant hatred for the General but right now he didn't care. At last he knew the truth behind his position as the Separatist General and he didn't like it. As the full enormity of the betrayal and the lies and the deceit smashed into him he felt his brain being completely overwhelmed by a rage that likes of which he had never felt before.
These people had ruined his life to use him as a tool until they no longer needed him!
And Grievous bowed to no-one.
San Hill: So who told you, General?
?: We did.
* As the two and Grevious turned to us, as San Hill and Gunray see me point my Walther PPK at them, but I had no intention of killing them, as I planned to show the two as well, the truth.*
"Richard!" Gunray cried. "What... what is he..."
"Get out of my way, Richard!" Grievous roared at him. "This does not concern you!"
"But it does, Grievous," Richard replied as he forced Grievous to take a step back and stood protectively in front of Hill. "I cannot allow you to do this. It is against everything the Jedi hold dear to allow the murder of a defenseless person, regardless of what they might have done in the past."
Grievous: *bellowed* That piece of filth destroyed everything I have! He took my body, my family, my life! Everything! He cannot be allowed to life another second! *He lunged forward again and attempted to hack his way past Richard to get at Hill but Richard noticed and countered his strike again, forced backwards at the ferocity of the strike, but standing his ground.*
Alaya: Grievous, control yourself. He wanted the rage flowing inside you! He wanted you to become a monster. Kill him now, and all you do is prove that he accomplished his goal and turned you into a mindless killer. Control your desire for revenge and spare his life now. Be better than what he tried to make you into. That would be a far greater victory than killing him in cold blood.
Me: Besides if you kill him, will lose all of the evidence that is need to bring down Sidious, these two are our only way to defeat the evil sith lord. Trust me on this, I have experience with this Grevious.
Grievous: Why? Why are you doing this? You are a fast biter. I have killed dozens of your jedi friends and you are trying to comfort me? Why? Where is the logic in that?
Me: This is my policy, settale conflicts of the old, to deal with conflicts of the new, which means settale old problems and get them over with and deal with the problems of today. * Turn to San Hill and Gunray.* Sidious is not planning to give you money, he just left you behind and turned to something else.
*The two gasped in shock.*
Me: That's right Sidious betrayed you, here is a video of who Sidious really is.
*Richard shows the video once again to the two. After the video...*
* The two are shocked.*
Me: He was planning on betraying you, when Anakin would turn to the dark side, but when we got this, it prevented you two from dying, so your lucky, your welcome.
*Just then, he heard his comlink beeping.*
Richard: *answers* This is Richard.
Me: *via comlink* Bro! Oh, thank god you're alive. Are you alright? Are you injured? Are you captured? Tell me, bro.
Me: I'm fine bro, and you won't believe this.
Me: What, bro? What is it?
* I showed Grevious, San Hill, and Gunray.*
*At the moment I saw the holograms of Grievous an 1000 d the two Separatist bankers, I was seen in total shock.*
Me: Wwwwwwwwwhhhhh...huh?
Me: Let me tell you about the strange turn of events that happened when I left Earth to now.
*I then listened to what happened to Richard. After the explanation...*
Me: Whoa...
Me: See Palpatine made a mistake again, now we got ourselves another adventage and we can you use this.
Me: Wait a minute. The Jedi won't approve of Grievous joining, bro. You saw what he did to the Jedi.
Me: Let me tell you a story about Grevious.
* I begin telling the story.*
*I soon began to learn about Grievous' past life, and what Dooku had done to him. I felt bad on hearing what my brother's telling me. After he finished the story...*
Me: Wow. I didn't know.
Me: Now, you know.
Me: So, all of this was caused by Dooku? This whole time?
Me: Yep.
Me: Wow...I...I don't know what to say bro...this is all new to me. *shakes my head in realization* But bro. We all know what Grievous still did in his past live, and the Jedi will be SUPER pissed when they hear you letting Grievous ally with us.
Me: To tell you the truth, I can give a shit less, what they think, besides we got another major victory.
Me: We do?
Me: Yeah here, where we are at.
Me: *realizes* Wait a minute...you mean...
Me: Since Grevious, and his battle droids on our side, and we have San Hill and Gunray under our arrest and protection now, so that is another victory against Sidious to expose him to senators, and he brought this upon himself.
Me: And then letting us win the war at the same time!
Me: And Palpatine's plan back fired, now it's time to give those two Bounty hunters some payback.
Me: And we will bro. But first, we need to find your location.
Me: I'm sending it now.
* Send out the signal, and after two hours of sending the signal, the ship appears.*
*The hatch opens up, showing me, Juliet and the raptor kids running to Richard.*
Me: Bro!
Juliet: Honey!
Raptor kids: Daddy!
* My brother, my wife and my kids ran to me and hugged me, as I hug them back.*
Me: Oh, thank god you're safe, brother. We were so worried something happend to you.
Me: Well they killed my double, but that doesn't matter, and bro, I have to show you something.
* I show everybody my ghost form.*
Me: Now don't worry, I'm not dead, I just have this power for a lot time and I have not used it.
*I stood there, suprised to see his new form.*
JD: How did you get that form?
Richard: Remember the Ghostbusters back at camp?
*I then immediatly realized how he got that form.*
Me: You mean...you used to be the guardian?
Me: Yeah. How did you know?
Me: Because I saw it happened a long time ago. Before you knew about it, I was doing my usual hero thing, as Makyura, defending people, when I saw the GhostBusters there, along with someone that I didn't know it was you. I then saw the person, which is you, go near the door, and got the power to become a ghost.
Me: I still wonder what Gozer wanted with me besides that be the guardian of the gate. * I change the subject.* Anyway, I would like to have some payback time.
Me: We will bro...*extended my fist for Richard to bump it* Together!
Me: Together. * As we hit out fist together.*
* The screen then changes into space, as we see a ship.*
*While they were still in hyperspace, Aurra Sing and Bok decided to make the call to let Darth Sidious know of the (supposed) success of their mission. They were making their way back to Coruscant with all speed as it was, but neither of them could wait to report their pleasure at the death of Richard at their hands (or so they believed) to somebody and who better to start with than the guy who had ordered them to do it in the first place.
Palpatine's hologram appeared on the monitor in front of them, blue and crackling, and he offered them a slightly crooked smile when he beheld who it was.*
Palpatine: Ah, Aurra, Bok. I trust that you have some good news to report."
Aurra: *smirked* Do we ever. You wanted Richard dead? Well, he's currently as dead as they come. His body is resting at the bottom of a massive ocean and there's currently a very big hole in the back of his head and allowing his brains to be filled with ocean salt, courtesy of my little sniper rifle."
Palpatine: *sternly* I have heard a similar boast before. When Cad Bane reported the supposed death of Richard not long ago, he also claimed to have put a hole in his head. Do you have any proof that you killed him?
Aurra: Not... as such no. But I think you'll find that he won't be showing up to cause you any more grief. We watched as I shot him down.
Bok: Proof! *growled* I not need proof of death, Emperor. I see it with my own eyes. It shame I could not get head, but I not lie about something like this. No way that raptor sways me against you like he sway other Bounty Hunter. I never stop until he dead and today, me see him perish at last.*
*Palpatine regarded Bok for a few seconds before Aurra chipped in.*
Aurra: I concur with this Morgukai. I'm not someone like Bane, Emperor. I may be a Bounty Hunter of a similar calibre, but there's no way I'm going to follow the instructions of a Jedi, no matter how much he or she offers to pay me. Besides, we're heading your way right now. You can sense for yourself if you think we're lying or not when we finally get there.
Palpatine regarded them both for a few moments, before a thin smile began to spread across his face.
Palpatine: Very good. Report back to me in person immediately. I would like to receive your eyewitness accounts of what happened. I want to know everything that happened on your hunt and I especially want to hear about his death, an event which I have been striving for days now. I do not make compliments lightly, but well done.
Aurra: *smiled* That's quite alright, Emperor. Believe us, it was more than a pleasure to serve you. It was a delight.
Bok: *laughed uproariously* Richard finally dead!
*And as he burst into yet more maniacal laughter, Palpatine's smirk began to grow, but his hologram signed off before either Aurra or Bok could see Palpatine break into laughter too.*
*And back on Coruscant, that was exactly what was happening. It wasn't a full blown manic laugh like Bok, but the Emperor was indeed rubbing his hands together with barely disguised glee as he let off a cackle of triumph. He had been beginning to think that the time would never come when he would finally learn Richard was dead and that it would be real. But it seemed that time had finally come.
(Or so he thought)
He had no reason to doubt the two of them. He had chosen Bane the first time because he was the best of the best at the moment, but Aurra was not far out of his league and he had picked her this time instead of other Bounty Hunters of a similar calibre because he knew of Her intense hatred for all Jedi. And having someone who hated Aayla as much as Bok going along for the ride only added to the supposed validity of the report.*
Palpatine: *sneered* At last. Richard has finally met his downfall. The day has finally come. Anyone thinking of resisting our new Empire will fall flat on their faces when they learn of this.
*Ventress was trying to hide her own mixed feelings of happiness and annoyance. She would enthralled to hear that the raptor was no more, but she had been hoping to have a hand in it herself, but that, of course, had been denied to her. Like Bok, Ventress took her personal grudges very seriously indeed.
But Ahsoka Tano was still out there somewhere, and Ventress fully intended to finally have her revenge on the little Padawan if she couldn't have it on Richard.*
Dooku: So, he is dead. *maintaining his calm and regal posture at all times.* I cannot say that I am not pleased to hear it. Any Jedi that remain out there will almost certainly flee when they hear of this, but the question of what he was doing at Felucia still remains.
Palpatine: *smirked* It is unimportant now. Richard is finally dead. Oh, how I look forward to informing the Galactic Senate when I call our next session of congress tomorrow.
*He descended into more cackles of evil glee, unable to stop himself from doing it.*
*The words 'To be Continue', appear on the screen, ending the episode.*
Whoa, this is very great major victory against Sidious. What will happen next? Found out next time on Richard's Greatest Adventures.