This chapter is dedicated to GriffTalon, who has reviewed every single chapter of this story. Thanks! :)

Small edits made. :)

Rex crouched just inside the castle gate, studying the busy streets that the clones would have to maneuver through. Dozens of humans and humanoids moved back and forth, interspersed here and there with more unusual species. Three Besalisks left a building just across the road, arguing in deep voices and each gesticulating with four arms at once.

"I'd hate to be grabbed by one of those guys," commented Jesse, from where he was peering out through a sizable crack.

Rex moved back into the shadows, privately thinking the same thing. "Snap, any ideas on how to get through the streets without being seen?"

Snap considered for approximately half a second. "Wait for the sun to set."
"Yeah. . ." Rex gave him a wry look. "Except, in a place like this, the streets might be busier during the night."

"We could keep to the side streets and alleyways," Gadget suggested. "I'll work out a route while we're waiting."

"You have the city schematics?"

"Yes, sir. Commander Cody had me pull a copy from the local network before landing."

That sounds like the commander. Rex glanced up at the sun, calculating. Rattatak had a rotation of thirty-five standard hours, which meant they still had at least seven hours to wait. But they couldn't stay here; the courtyard was too exposed. He turned to the castle, and the others followed his gaze.

Jesse hummed thoughtfully. "It is the last place they'd expect us to be. . ."

"Let's check it out," Rex decided.

Snap moved to the gate and leaned against it, peering cautiously out. A moment later, he brought one hand down in a sharp gesture, and Gadget and Jesse broke from cover, running across the sand to the wide open front doors. Rex and Kix followed, then Snap. After a final glance behind them, they slipped into the wide, cool hallway.

No one was in sight. After a moment, Rex lowered his pistol. "There shouldn't be anyone here, but stay close. Let's see what we can do while waiting."

* * * * *

The commandos climbed quietly up the shaft behind General Fisto. They were halfway to the top when Thirty-Eight braced himself against the shaft's durasteel wall and signaled a pause. It would be best if they knew the situation on the first level before entering it.

He was about to check his sensors when the general gestured urgently for his attention. "Sergeant! Hurry! Climb quickly!"

Boss swung away from the wall and kicked off the stone, retracting his cable more rapidly. "Move it, Deltas."

"Large heat signature approaching," said Fixer.

From below the two of them, Scorch snorted. "I really didn't want to know that. . ."

Boss came to a halt beside the general, who had paused just a few meters beneath the opening that led to what had been Grievous' storage room. The Nautolan held his cable with one hand, and his lightsaber with the other; he looked ready to spring into action at any instant.

Fixer joined them. Scorch had just passed the opening to the second level. Sev was centimeters behind him – and, in the opening next to him, something moved. Boss switched on night vision and raised his gun.

"Behind you, Oh-Seven," Fixer said urgently.

Boss waited. He didn't have a clear shot, but in a few seconds. . .

The two commandos kept moving, Sev detaching something from his belt as he steadied the cable with one hand. "Move it," he growled at Scorch. "I'll need some room."

Sev came to a halt, allowing Scorch to take larger jumps.

The thing in the doorway moved again. A huge arm reached into the shaft, groping upward. Four clawed fingers closed on empty air, scraping against the opposite wall, before feeling their way upward.

Boss aimed past the sniper's head. "Sev –"

"I've got this, sir." Sev kicked the wall, then swung to brace against the opposite corner.

The claws moved in the direction of the noise. Sev carefully tossed a sonic at one of them, then retracted his cable at a dangerous speed, coming to a halt right before he would have slammed into Fixer.

The sonic detonated, and the walls of the shaft seemed to bow inward for a moment. The hand, now missing one of the long claws, was jerked back, and the monster let out a strange, screaming roar.

It finally faded. There was a long moment of silence, and then they heard the sound of heavy footsteps gradually drawing farther away. Fixer tilted his head in a way that meant he was analyzing something. "It has six legs?"

"No," said Scorch, clipping his gun onto his belt. "It has two legs, and four arms. And the arms all have claws twice the length of the hands."

Sev glanced down again. "Any idea what it is?"

"Must be some sort of subterranean creature," Fixer guessed.

"Whatever it is, it's gone for now," Boss said calmly, steering the conversation back to the mission. "We'll stay here a moment. Let's figure out what the situation is on the first level. Fixer, try and locate Advisor's transmission signature."

"Yes, Three-Eight."
"Sergeant," the general said in a low voice. "If we find Grievous, I will keep him busy while you complete the mission. If I can keep him inside long enough, we might be able to bring this place down on top of him."

"Roger that, General."

"Sir," said Fixer. "I can't locate Advisor's transmitter, but there are droid signatures in the supply room. One of them registers as a droid and a biological."

"Grievous," said General Fisto, clenching his lightsaber. "How many droids?"

"Ten, sir, all across the room from the shaft."

Boss considered. They wouldn't have the element of surprise for more than a couple of seconds. Ten B1s wouldn't be a problem, but ten supers –

"I'll go first," he said, glancing at the general for permission. "Let's see what we're up against."

General Fisto nodded. Boss grabbed onto Sev's cable for a moment, freeing and then reattaching his own so that it wouldn't tangle with the others.

Climbing hand over hand, he made his way up and peered carefully over the top. It was hard to see anything over the wreckage of the supply shelves and replacement limbs, and the opposite doorway was mostly blocked from view, but he could see three droids.

He climbed back down. "At least three are supers," he said. "I think one of us should be able to get up without being seen. I'll throw a few EC's; that should keep them occupied. Scorch – anti-armor."

"You got it, Boss." Scorch quickly switched to the dumbfire weapon's attachment, then readjusted his cable.

Before either of them had taken more than a step, a harsh voice echoed down to them. "Activate my MagnaGuards! We must find and kill the Jedi!"

"That's Grievous!" General Fisto hissed.

He climbed swiftly to the top, and Boss and Scorch followed, coming to a halt just below the edge.

The Separatist general was still speaking. "Fisto is here. You are going to tell me what he is doing."

To Thirty-Eight's surprise, Advisor, his voice a little hoarse, answered, "You'll be waiting a long time."

"Oh, I don't think so! Droid!"

A robotic voice spoke in a prissy, sing-song tone. "I would answer, if I were you."

"Running thermal scan," Fixer said. "He's just inside the opposite doorway." Boss put the EC detonator back in his belt. Time for a new plan. "General, can you take down those supers?"

"Easily," the Nautolan replied. He hesitated for just an instant before saying, "You'll need to distract Grievous for a few seconds, though."

"Okay. Scorch, I want an anti-armor round against the adjacent wall. Give the general an opening. I think I'll go talk to Grievous."

There was a half-second of stunned silence. "Sir –" Fixer stopped as Advisor let out a sharp yell.

General Grievous coughed loudly. "Where is Fisto?"

"CC Oh-One slash Four-Two-Five," Advisor muttered.

"Where is Fisto?"

Boss pointed two fingers at the first level entrance. "Let's move, Deltas."

Scorch climbed out, staying on his knees, and turned to pull Boss up. The other two commandos crouched beneath the pile of twisted metal that took up the center of the room. General Fisto knelt beside them, lightsaber out.

When everyone was in position, Scorch fired a round against the far wall. Almost before it exploded, Boss had moved in the opposite direction and was stepping into the open.

Ten super battle droids marched hurriedly in the direction of the explosion. Behind them, just inside the doorway, Advisor was on his hands and knees; his eyes widened as he caught sight of Thirty-Eight. A medical droid stood nearby, and Grievous loomed over them both.

"Grievous," said Boss in a neutral tone. "Do you like the way we rearranged your supplies?"

"Well! A clone commando." Grievous drew two lightsabers, peering suspiciously from side to side. "Where is your squad?"

Boss lifted one hand casually and let it fall back to his side. "What makes you think I have one?"

Grievous' yellow eyes narrowed. Thirty-Eight whipped his gun to his shoulder and fired a quick burst. The cyborg jumped aside, two new limbs unfolding from his arms, and coughed violently. The armor on one side of his face plate had been peeled away.

He leapt forward, lightsabers slashing viciously, one after the other. Boss dodged to the right, ducked back around the metal racks, dropped to the floor, and fired his ascension cable into the wall opposite. Grievous' full weight hit the cable, and Boss nearly lost his hold on the blaster. He detached the cable and rolled aside, out of range of Fixer's EC grenade.

With a growl of fury, Grievous jumped onto the wall, clinging to it like a spider. The waves of pulsing electricity missed him, but the sniper round Sev fired did not. Reeling from the layered attack, Grievous retreated along the wall.

"Keep at him, squad!" Fixer called, running forward.

The medical droid squeaked in alarm. "Master, look! A Jedi!"

A flash of motion on the other side of the room caught Boss' attention and he stopped short. "Hold it, Deltas!"

The Jedi Master slashed his way through the last super battle droid and called with a grin, "Grievous! I thought you were looking for me?"

Grievous drew four lightsabers and ignited them, one after the other. "Fisto. . . I hoped you would return! I will kill you the way I killed your Jedi friend!"

General Fisto paced forward, his mouth set in a grim line; then he flung one hand forward. A small hold-out blaster flew into his hand from behind Grievous' back, and the Jedi smiled darkly. "I think not."

Grievous slowly spun all four lightsabers, increasing his speed until they were mere blurs of light and color.

Scorch stared at the spinning blades and lowered his gun slightly. "Umm."

"We've got to get to the doorway," Boss said. "Let's give General Fisto an opening."

Sev took a step to the left and put a shot in Grievous' knee joint.

The Jedi lunged forward. "Get to the doors!"

"Sir, we've got incoming," Fixer reported quickly.

Thirty-Eight ran around the back of the room, the others following closely. As he rounded the corner of the storage rack, he caught sight of Advisor, still kneeling just inside the doorway. The odd-looking medical droid watched the lightsaber duel, bouncing up and down and letting out inarticulate noises of excitement.

"That med droid is – strange," Sev said, sounding disturbed. He aimed, but before he could fire, Advisor had drawn a thin vibroblade from behind his back, lurched forward, and severed the medical droid's head neatly.

Well, that was unexpected.

Rapid metallic footsteps sounded outside, and Boss pointed to the hall. "Oh-Seven, Six-Two, clear a path."

They ran to either side of the door, firing as they moved. Red lasers flew between them, spattering and pinging against the metal walls. Boss kicked the remains of the med droid aside, grabbed Advisor's arms, and hauled him out of the line of fire. "Do you have the data?" he demanded.

Advisor shook his head. "I hid it in the control room."

Boss glanced at the Jedi, who was a blur of motion as he attacked Grievous. "Fixer, take point. General. We're heading for the control room."

At first he thought he hadn't been heard, but then the Jedi leapt into the air and backflipped, landing a few feet away from the commandos. He twirled his lightsaber hilt around one hand, rebalancing himself as Grievous charged. "I'll cover you. Hurry!"

Fixer was already halfway down the hall, Sev and Scorch flanking him. Boss was just starting after them when he realized that the other clone had stopped and was leaning heavily against the wall. He turned back. "Advisor, we're running out of time!"

Advisor hesitated, then replied in his usual matter-of-fact tone. "That droid injected me with something. Get to the control room. The data is hidden inside the new power core's casing."

Clanking sounded at the door as a lone droid wandered in, late to the battle. Boss absently put a few rounds through its metallic brain while checking over his shoulder for enemies. Keeping half his attention on the sounds of the duel behind him, he drew his pistol and handed it to Advisor. "We need to move fast," he said, putting his free hand beneath the other's elbow. "You'd better not pass out."

Advisor gave a wry grimace and shoved himself away from the wall. "Understood, Thirty-Eight."

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