Disclaimer – all original Star Wars characters in this fanfic (excluding my OC's) are the property of Lucasfilm and Disney.
Chapter 30 "A Helping Hand."
23 BBY – Coruscant, Jedi Temple, Training Grounds.
After his loss on Alderaan, Anakin became obsessed with defeating Darth Enigma. He wanted to become so strong that he would never lose again, especially against the Anzat. The Padawan trained like crazy, even to the point of exhaustion. Not only that, but other Padawans were afraid to spar with him since he didn't hold back in their duels. The only time he rested was when the Jedi High Council assigned him to guard duty for injuring a fellow Padawan. After that, Obi-Wan forbade Anakin from sparring without supervision against other Padawans. He could only duel on his own with training droids.
However, one brave Twi'lek Padawan, who was the same age as him, decided to spar with Anakin when none of the adult Jedi were nearby. Their duel lasted two minutes, and the blue-skinned Twi'lek was on his knee as Anakin pummeled at his lightsaber relentlessly. An image of Darth Enigma appeared before Anakin, and he attacked and attacked. A Jedi Knight or a Master would stop the fight immediately, but unfortunately, there were only Padawans around. Some began to tell Anakin to stop, but he didn't listen. Luckily for the Twi'lek, Anakin heard a familiar, feminine voice. "Anakin!"
The Padawan suddenly stooped his assault and turned his head around, noticing Asajj. The Dathomirian girl had a slim figure, a pale-white skin without any tattoos and pretty, icy-blue eyes. When she first arrived at the Temple, she was bald, but now, she had a brown-colored hair formed in a short pixie cut with a fringe. "What are you doing?!" she asked with a concerned expression.
Anakin looked back at the terrified Twi'lek and realized what he just did and what might happen. When he backed away, the Twi'lek stood up and quickly left before the human could apologize. The Padawans around whispered and decided to leave as well just to be safe.
Anakin sat down on the ground and placed a hand on his face, ashamed of what he did... again. Asajj approached him and sat down right beside him. "You saw him again?" she asked. Anakin only nodded in response.
"You need to calm down, Anakin," Asajj tried to give him advice. "We were slaves before we became Jedi, but we can't be slaves to our emotions."
"It's... it's not so simple, Asajj," Anakin replied. A loss during a spar is something completely different than a loss in a real battle. Master Koth died while me, Obi-Wan, and Senator Amidala survived only because the Sith let us go. I failed, and there's nothing I could do. I should be able to protect my friends."
"You're not all-powerful, Anakin," Ventress said, placing her hand on Anakin's shoulder. "No one is."
"Well, I should be," Anakin replied and looked at Asajj. "Someday, I will be. I'll be the most powerful Jedi ever. I even learn how to stop people from dying. It's all Obi-Wan's fault, he's holding me back!"
The Dathomirian Padawan was taken aback by that statement. "Anakin, that's not true," she stated. "You know that he cares for you and does everything Master Qui-Gon would do to make you a great Jedi Knight."
Anakin went silent, while Ventress looked around and asked. "Where is Master Obi-Wan anyway?"
"With Master Dooku at the Chancellor's office," Anakin answered with a sigh. "Some Kallesh warlord arrived on Coruscant and demands justice."
Coruscant, Republic Executive Building, Supreme Chancellor's Office.
"Is this a joke?!" Grievous, formerly known as Qymaen jai Sheelal before he renamed himself after the death of his partner Ronderu lij Kummar, asked violently, standing in front of the Chancellor's desk. "When the Yam'rii invaded our world and began enslaving my people, you did nothing, but when we counterattacked, and the soulless bugs asked the Republic for help, you sided with them to stop the conflict! Not only you forced hefty fines upon Kalee, but you imposed an embargo on my planet. My people began to starve and die because of you!"
"Please, calm down," said Chancellor Palpatine. He knew very well that the Yam'rii were the aggressors of the war, but he pulled a few strings with the Trade Federation. That, along with the Senate's corruption, ensured that the Galactic Senate saw the Kaleesh as the ones who started the war. Since the Jedi served the Republic, they were the ones who chastised the Kaleesh for their belligerence, ordered them to pay war indemnities, demanded the return of worlds they had conquered and imposed economic sanctions. "From what I know, the InterGalactic Banking Clan agreed to take on Kalee's massive debt, right?"
The Kaleesh warlord snorted and replied with disgust. "Yeah, but I had to become a glorified leg-breaker for a soul-less megacorporation. Instead of using my own people, my Izvoshra, I'm forced to use dumb droids to collect debts. But that's not the point! The Yam'rii vandalized burial grounds on our colony world, and you refuse to do anything about it! Where is the justice you gave them?!" Grievous slammed his fist against the desk.
"You won't achieve anything with such outbursts, warlord Grievous," pointed out Obi-Wan Kenobi. Master Dooku listened to the conversation in silence. He understood the anger of the Kaleesh, but the decision belonged to the Senate, which was controlled by the Sith Lord. He doubted the Republic would help the people of planet Kalee.
"I see, I won't achieve anything at all with the Republic!" the Kaleesh warlord replied angrily. "It seems to me, I need to take matters into my own hands!"
"I would advise against it," warned Kenobi. "Peaceful solutions are the only way for Kalee. Violent acts against the Yam'rii's homeworld, would put your people in the same situation as before."
"I don't care!" Grievous replied harshly. "I'll abandon my contract with the Banking Clan and show the Yam'rii what happens when you attack the Kaleesh!"
The warlord grabbed his Czerka Outland rifle from the chair and left the office in a hurry. Palpatine wasn't happy about that, especially as a Sith Lord. He knew that San Hill, the Chairman of the Banking Clan, would be displeased as well. Since the Kaleesh didn't want to listen to reason, they needed to find a way to ensure that his servitude would be permanent.
"So much negative emotions," Master Dooku commented and looked at the Chancellor. "Why did the Senate refused to help the people of Kalee?"
"Ehhh... politics are sometimes complicated, Master Dooku," replied Palpatine. "Since the Kaleesh were the aggressors in their whole war, the Senate doesn't see them as victims in this situation. Many Senators think it's some kind of manipulation to gain the favor of the Republic."
Master Dooku knew that Palpatine had something to do with it, but he accepted that response. He had the idea that the Kingdom could help the Kaleesh with their problem and gain a powerful ally in return. He needed to inform Zai'shira and Deiven about this opportunity.
A couple hours later – Planet Kalee, Kaleela - Capital of Kalee.
Planet Kalee was covered in tropical-looking foliage and beaches. Moss-covered canyons and cliffs filled the wide landscapes. It was a harsh world, and wanting for resources, which resulted from the war with the Yam'rii and the consequences of embargos. The Kaleesh housing and buildings were very temple-like. The native species of the planet, the Kaleesh, were highly intelligent bipedal hunter-warriors, similar to the Togrutas. They hunted predators such as mumuu and karabbacs to make ceremonial cloaks and war masks.
Kaleela was the biggest city on Kalle and its capital. There was an open space with grass in its center, which served as a landing field for ships. Before Grievous landed his personal shuttle called the Martyr, he noticed a fancy-looking, silver-colored ship from above on the landing field. When he finally landed and walked down the ramp, Grievous was greeted by an older Kaleesh clad in white robes, known as a Holy Man.
"Greetings, Khagan Grievous," said the older Kaleesh, using the title of the supreme military commander of the Kaleesh. As many members of the Kaleesh species, the Holy Man had many necklaces made out of fangs and claws of the local predator. He even wore an upper part of the karabbac skull on his head. "What news you bring from the Republic?"
"Tch! Our appeals have been ignored," Grievous replied frowningly. "It is now apparent that the Republic and the Jedi favor our enemies. We need to handle this matter ourselves. I'll take my Izvoshra and deal with the Yam'rii."
"Before you do," the Holy Man gestured towards the silver-colored ship. "Outsiders have arrived and wanted to speak with you. They call themselves the ArchKnights from the Kingdom of the Force. They want to help us deal with the Yam'rii."
"ArchKnights?" Grievous asked suspiciously as the name reminded him about the Jedi Order. "A Jedi?"
"I don't think they're Jedi," the older Kaleesh replied, shaking his head. "But they appear to be strong warriors."
Grievous looked at the ship with his yellow-colored, reptilian eyes and pondered for a moment. He was a proud warrior, but he and his people didn't have the luxury to refuse a helping hand against the Yam'rii. The warlord began to walk towards the ship to talk with the ArchKnights. When he got close, the ramp of the ship was lowered. On its top, the Kaleesh spotted an orange-skinned Togruta female with a white helmet that covered her face and her montral tips but left the ends of her lekku exposed. She wore a sleeveless tunic, a knee-length skirt over dark-grey pants, and a pair of leather boots. All her clothes were mainly white but had violet, red, yellow, and blue patterns and add-ons. A fancy Togruta sash was attached to the skirt, and four symbols, which Grievous didn't recognize, were engraved on it in four different colors: violet, yellow, red, and blue.
"Welcome, Khagan Grievous," she greeted with a friendly tone.
"I heard you wanted to talk with me about the Yam'rii," Grievous replied, getting straight to the point.
"That's right, come inside," the Togruta confirmed and gestured him to follow. Grievous cautiously ascended the ramp and entered the ship with his rifle at the ready. He quickly noticed how advanced the craft was. It made his ship look like old junk. The ArchKnight took the Kaleesh to the luxury lounge and gestured him to rest on the semi-circle sofa.
Before Grievous could sit down, a gold-skinned boy with horns and a tail, which was coiled around his leg, entered the lounge from the other side. "Hello," he greeted with a smile.
"Emm... hello," Grievous replied and took a good look at him. The fourteen-year-old boy wore an open jacket, fingerless-gloves, pants with attached Togruta sash, and leather boots. In terms of colors, his clothes had the same style as the Togrutan ones. The Kaleesh was impressed by his trophies: the necklaces and bracelets made from fangs and claws of different animals that they had on Kalee. In places where his skin was bare, he noticed silver scars, which proved that the boy fought with wild beasts despite being so young. Not to mention, he wore an akul-tooth headdress like a Togruta.
Deiven also observed the Kaleesh warlord. It was the first time he saw one personally. He noticed that the reptilian had scaly, dark-brown skin, yellow-colored eyes, four-clawed hands, and five-clawed feet. Each hand featured two opposable thumbs. The face of the reptilian was covered by a traditional white mask with red war paint on it. A white headscarf was wrapped around his forehead. The young Firrerreo noticed a few strands of black hair coming from underneath it. The warlord's arms were wrapped with pieces of white cloth.
"This is Deiven Virlo," the Togruta introduced the young Firrerreo and sat down on the sofa. "I'm Zai'shira Kessen. We're the ArchKnights from the Kingdom of the Force."
Grievous hesitantly sat down on the sofa as well and noticed a thin, rectangular object attached to the Togruta's belt. The boy had two at each side of his hips. The Kaleesh knew what a lightsaber was, but these hilts were different. "Do you have any affinity with the Jedi Order?" he asked.
"No," Zai'shira replied. "We have a different view on the Force than them. Plus, we don't mind getting our hands dirty when the situation requires, but we're not senseless killers like the Sith Lords."
"I couldn't care less about the Force," he stated with a shrug. "I care only about justice for my people."
"And that's the reason we are here," Zai'shira assured. "We know burial grounds are sacred to your people, and we want to help you deal with the Yam'rii."
"Why?" Grievous asked, folding his arms over his chest. "What's in it for you?"
"The Kaleesh are proud, honorable, and deadly warriors. In exchange for our help, we want the Kaleesh to join us in the upcoming war between the Jedi and Sith," Zai'shira said straight out. "The Kingdom of the Force will be the third faction, so we need strong allies. The Kaleesh are spiritual people, and you believe that whoever performs great deeds in life would become gods in death. Such a big war would be remembered by the Kaleesh for centuries."
Grievous pondered about that proposition. For the Kaleesh, the war was viewed as an essential and sacred practice, and the culture's large emphasis on honor was known to spur many acts of vengeance among the various tribes. However, when necessary, the tribes would put aside their differences and bond to fend off a common enemy. The ArchKnights didn't belong to any of the Kaleesh tribes, but nothing said the outsiders could not join Kaleesh in battles and vice versa.
When it came to joining them in the war, Grievous would lie if he would say that he didn't found the aspect of such massive war tempting. He hated the Jedi and the Republic for siding with the Yam'rii in the earlier war and not doing anything when the 'bugs' desecrated their sacred burial grounds. The Kaleesh warlord didn't care about the Sith either, but he wasn't aware they were allies of the InterGalactic Banking Clan.
"When you'll attack the Yam'rii with us, they could join either the Republic and Jedi or the Sith during the war to get their revenge on your faction," Grievous warned. "I hope you know that?"
"We know," the Togruta assured. "We'll be ready for them when the time comes. If they attack us, no one will hear the name Yam'rii ever again."
The Kaleesh warlord actually smiled under the mask after that statement. "Hmmm... the Yam'rii desecrated the burial grounds on our colony world Oben," Grievous stated. "If you help me and my people kill the soulless bugs on that planet, we'll join you."
"Deal," Zai'shira stood up and reached out with her hand. Grievous stood up and grabbed it. The two shook hands in agreement.
"We can use our ship to reach Oben," Deiven proposed. "It can become invisible so we can surprise the Yam'rii so that they won't escape. There's a lot of room here, so your people can board it with no problems."
Grievous liked the way the boy thought. "Good idea," he admitted with a mischievous smile behind the mask. "I'll get my Izvoshra, and we can depart immediately."
"Okay!" Deven replied.
A few hours later – Planet Oben, Obe'Shun.
Oben was a resource-rich planet filled with tropical jungles, forests, blue oceans, and almost no mountains. Its jungles and forests produced much tropical fruit while its oceans teemed with various forms of marine life. The planet was bathed by the rays of twin suns, which created a hot, tropical climate. Kaleesh people build their homes close to their most sacred place on the planet, the Obe'Shun, a large burial grounds surrounded by four tall temples.
When the cloaked Silent Shadow moved closer to the burial grounds, all the Kaleesh aboard tensed up. Right now, the graves of Obe'Shun were destroyed and desecrated. Even for an outsider, it was a grim and sad sight. Zai'shira, who watched it from the Silent Shadow's cockpit with the others, could feel the anger of Grievous and his people.
"Are those the Yam'rii?" Deiven asked, pointing at the grey, brown, and green-skinned bipedal insects down below near the burial grounds. Their giant, mantis-like bodies stood two meters or more in height and were divided into three major sections: head, thorax, and abdomen. Large, multifaceted grey and red-colored eyes dominated their wedge-shaped heads, which were supported by long, narrow necks on broad, rounded shoulders. Nostrils lay below the eyes, although in most Yam'rii, these were imperceptible. A mass of bump like protrusions at the front of the head acted as a mouth and taste organ. Dual knobby crests grew from their heads with other bumps in between. A spiky ridge ran along the back of the head.
The midsection was dominated by two arms held before the body mantis-like, the first of the double padded joints bent upward and the second downward. In most Yam'rii, these arms were shaped like giant clippers: the upper limb had a barbed, serrated cutting edge on its underside, and the lower part of the limb narrowed to a point; together, both halves acted like shears. However, other Yam'rii had two fingers and a thumb instead, trading deadly, natural weapons for the ability to perform fine manipulation.
The thorax tapered greatly at the waist, where the round, bulbous abdomen began. This posterior section came to a point in the back and featured striations along its length. The Yam'rii's legs had a single knee joint and ended in jagged, pointed feet; these were bifurcated into two digits in those Yam'rii with fine manipulator forelimbs.
"Yeah," Grievous growled in response.
"It's your colony," Zai'shira pointed out and looked at the Kaleesh. "How do you wanna do this?"
Grievous took a good look at the Yam'rii and the surroundings. He noticed two ships, not far from the burial grounds that belonged to the soulless bugs.
"We need to destroy their ships so that they won't use them against our grounds troops," the warlord replied. "We'll divide our forces into two groups and attack them from both sides. No mercy!"
Zai'shira nodded and looked at the young Firrerreo. "Alright, Deiven, you'll provide air support, while we deal with the Yam'rii."
"Okay," Deiven agreed. The young Firrerreo remained in the cockpit while everyone else left.
The Yam'rii spoke between each other with a dialect that contained click consonants just like the Geonosians. Clueless, the insectoids were suddenly surprised when a sudden fire from heavy laser cannons out of nowhere hit their ships. Without active shields, both vessels were immediately destroyed, causing a commotion between the Yam'rii.
While the Yam'rii began to look around and search for the attacker, one of them spotted a ship that revealed itself close to the ground. Figures that resembled Knights began to drop down from the ramp and form a straight line. At the same time, they activated their rectangular, blue-colored, transparent shields.
The Yam'rii who wielded ranged weapons began to fire at them, while the rest charged forward with their giant ragged clippers with the intention to rip the assailants apart.
The Silent Shadow flew behind the Yam'rii with ranged weapons, and once again, troops began to jump down from the ramp. However, this time, they were the Kaleesh warriors. With battle cries, the reptilians and ArchKnight Zai'shira, attacked the Yam'rii, who were caught between the two groups, just like Grievous wanted.
The masked Togruta charged forward, deflecting the blaster shoots with her black-yellow blade while Grievous and his Izvoshra were right behind her, firing at the insectoids with their Czerka Outland rifles. Zai'shira reached the insectoids and began to slash them to pieces. Some Kaleesh dropped their rifles and reached for their shoni spears.
At the other side of the burial grounds, the Sentinels fought with the Yam'rii while Deiven piloted the Silent Shadow above them and shoot at the lone insectoids that tried to back away or escape. Slowly, the forces of the Kingdom of the Force and the Kaleesh began to gain the upper hand as the ground beneath their feet became green from the insectoids' blood. All the Yam'rii with ranged weapons were killed, and the rest of the insectoids were attacked from two sides at once.
When the last of the Yam'rii was beheaded by Grievous, the Kaleesh people screamed in victory. The warlord grabbed the decapitated head of the insectoid and raised it high. The Izvoshra began to chant his name. "Grievous! Grievous! Grievous!"
While the reptilians cheered, Zai'shira approached the Sentinels and checked their state. Some were covered with green blood, some were damaged, but every single one was still able to function. The Yam'rii were a challenge in comparison to the Pykes on planet Kessel. Deiven landed the Silent Shadow nearby and left the ship while the Sentinels were ordered by the Togruta to board it.
When he approached the female ArchKnight, Grievous approached them. "You helped us avenge the desecration of our sacred burial grounds, we won't forget that," Grievous stated gratefully and reached for his mask. The Kaleesh took it off, and both Deiven and Zai'shira could see his face. Like all Kaleesh, Grievous had tusks, which protruded from his upper jaw, and shorter ones jutted from their chins. He had large pointed ears and long nostrils that stretched close to his yellow-colored eyes. "Just like I promised, the Kalee will join the Kingdom of the Force in the upcoming war. It will be an honor to fight alongside you."
"Likewise," Zai'shira replied and bowed her head respectfully. When she looked at Grievous, she reached at took off her helmet, revealing her face. "Do you want us to help you with restoring the grounds to their former glory?"
"No, you have done enough," the Kaleesh warlord replied. "My people will do that, like the tradition demands, but I will need a ride back to Kalee. I need to get my ship so I can return for them when they are done. After I'll return to Kalee with my Izvoshra, I talk to the elders and tell them about our agreement."
"Of course," Zai'shira agreed.
Deiven and Zai'shira gave Grievous ride back to Kalee, along with a holoprojector so that they could contact him, and said their goodbyes. They left the Kaleesh homeworld pleased that they gained an ally, but unfortunately, they didn't know that while they were on Oben, Darth Vundus, San Hill, and Poggle the Lesser, had planted an ion bomb aboard the Grievous's ship, and rigged his pilot seat to enable remote-guided ejection. When the warlord started his ship and attempted to fly back to planet Oben to get his Izvoshra, the Sith Lord, who watched everything from a distance, triggered the bomb. The explosion sent the ship plunging into the Jenuwaa Sea.
Please R&R ;)