Author's Note: This is a sequel to Chapter 28/WPW #75.
The Clone Wars are near their end. The battle over Coruscant has ended in a Republic rally and the death of Separatist leader Count Dooku, with Droid leader GENERAL GRIEVOUS forced to retreat to the sinkhole world of Utapau.
Jedi Master OBI-WAN KENOBI has been entrusted with the defeat of Separatist forces on Utapau, while his best friend and former apprentice ANAKIN SKYWALKER has been appointed to the Jedi Council on the order of the Supreme Chancellor. The Jedi –distrustful of the politician's increasing abuse of emergency powers- have requested their newest member to spy on the highest office of the Galactic Republic, further dividing his loyalty.
With one war near its end and another about to rear its head, the fate of the galaxy may depend on the bond between these two Jedi...
R2 didn't skimp on details. Apparently he was present for a great many notable events, and had been present during much of Anakin's participation on the galactic stage: he met the boy at only nine years old on Tatooine and accompanied him on his first piloting venture to attack a droid control ship, then accompanied him to a droid factory on a strange, volcanic world, and served as his personal astromech droid during nearly every combat sortie of 'the Clone Wars,' save for a few instances where he instead watched over Anakin's wife (which was apparently supposed to be a secret?) and his 'padawan' learner… and at some point commanded a droid regiment himself against the Separatists? He conveyed a lot of information in just a few beeps.
"That's so interesting, R2," Penny acknowledged, hunkered down to listen. "But why did you bring that C-3PO person with you to the plant when he didn't have little rocket boosters like yours'?"
R2 was about to explain in depth, but his recounting was interrupted by Obi-Wan's arrival. "Are you ready, Penny?"
Penny instantly whirled around and snapped to a salute. "I'm prepared, General Kenobi! I'll do all I can to help you put a stop to General Grievous and all the evil things he gets up to!"
"Oh, you have no idea," Obi-Wan assured her. "But it's a long journey to Utapau; I'm sure Commander Cody and I can regale you with some of the stories about this one's.. proclivities."
"Sounds like a plan!" Penny agreed, before returning her attention to R2, patting his domed head with one hand. "Take care of our friend Anakin while we're gone, R2! I'm sure we'll be back very soon!"
Penny bounded merrily after Obi-Wan to his ship, R2 sending an encouraging whistle to her back. She was a strange one to be sure, but R2 had become fond of her rather quickly… maybe because he could appreciate having another droid for company that wasn't C-3PO. Or maybe it was some sense of responsibility for helping to bring her online in the first place.
Whatever the reason, R2 didn't know of many droids who came back from being offline even once. He didn't want Penny to push her luck, but she had a knack for heroics to rival the Jedi R2 so often had to look out for…
R2 watched the ship depart and rolled back to Senator Amidala's apartment to keep an optic on his master's wife and see how Anakin was handling his new place on the Jedi council.
The war seemed at first to be one between two factions: the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Alliance. But outliers existed, and –as in all wars- some attempted to remain neutral and not commit themselves to either side. Mandalore held itself up as a representative of those neutral parties, and spoke for more than eight hundred unaffiliated star systems to the Republic senate when pleading for peace… or they had when under the leadership of Duchess Satine. Now under the command of her former minister Almec and a host of deadly warriors known as Death Watch, Madalore had instead become the staging ground of an organization called the Shadow Collective, a loose alliance of various criminal organizations and native Mandalorians seeking to exploit the neutral systems and stockpile resources while the attention of the galaxy's most powerful players were decidedly elsewhere. Worse even than the possibility of organizations like Black Sun and the Pyke Syndicate collaborating to profit off the war and strengthen their holdings in systems outside the protection of the Republic or the Separatists, the Shadow Collective's real goal seemed to have been to position a former Sith Lord known as Darth Maul as a major power in the galaxy, with forces enough to seize more of the galaxy for himself after the Clone Wars finished wreaking devastation.
Ahsoka Tano –Anakin Skywalker's former Padawan- had struck up a plan and allied with a Mandalorian defector known as Bo Katan and Anakin's 501st Clone Trooper regiment. She was an old friend of their commander Rex, and thought herself to be fighting alongside men she could trust, even if they made for a very small force trying to remove the seat of power of an increasingly dangerous criminal empire.
Anakin and Obi-Wan were meant to join the offensive with them before the sudden capture of Chancellor Palpatine by General Grievous. They'd lost their two greatest allies, but Ahsoka meant to go ahead anyway: they all sensed the war was near its end, and Maul would capitalize while the Republic focused all its attention on finishing off the cornered Separatists.
Ahsoka took command of the operation and ordered the go-ahead. They'd finally rid the galaxy of Maul's scourge and hopefully spare the innocent anymore suffering… just one last battle to go.
Penny enjoyed looking out the ship's viewing ports during the lightspeed jump; seeing stars sail past in little streaks of light. She knew some in Atlas had been speculating on the possibility of space travel, but they weren't any further than sending unmanned engines up towards Remnant's broken moon. This level of technology… Penny could scarcely comprehend how it was possible.
And when they finally arrived in the system and beheld the green sphere of Utapau, Penny spent a long time marveling at it. When she saw Coruscant from orbit she hadn't realized what it was, with its strange, tall spires rising high into the atmosphere and its many regions of dull steel. Utapau seemed brimming with life, even Obi-Wan said it was sparsely populated…
Remnant had been sparsely populated too. Compared to Coruscant –compared to the breadth of an entire galaxy- her massive homeworld seemed so small…
Obi-Wan bid her to the hangar with his assembled Clone troopers. It took Penny some time to spot the differences between them, but eventually her systems calibrated effectively and spotted the little distinctions. Obi-Wan had no trouble identifying each of the men in his squad, though apparently they wouldn't be joining Penny and himself for the trip down…
"Diplomacy, my friend," Obi-Wan explained. "We can't present ourselves as invading army to the locals…" That made sense, but surely Obi-Wan was wiser than to try and capture General Grievous with only two combatants.
Then again, he and Anakin had been only two assaulting his flagship… but they had R2 to watch out for them.
So it fell to Penny to protect her friend from the bad droid general. That seemed simple enough.
The Separatists had written off the strange, inky black planet in the Outer Rim and removed their resupply station. All they had left was a single monitoring post, manned by a handful of Super Tactical Droids and guarded by a single garrison of B1 Battle Droids.
"Halt," insisted one of the skinny tan droids, raising the flat of a three-fingered hand. "Who goes there?"
"Uh, hello!" replied a figure in a red cloak, waving one big, five-fingered hand in return. "Does this place have a CCT signal or something?"
"Um..." the B-1 had no idea how to process that inquiry. It went with the words in the question it clearly understood. "There is a signal to contact other Separatist forces contained in this station... wait..." Its tone turned accusatory: "You haven't identified yourself yet!"
"Um, well," she reached up to nervously rub the back of her head. "That's kind of a long story..."
The B-1 leveled its rifle. "Identify yourself, now."
She reached one hand to her back, slowly unfurling a scythe... she didn't know how dangerous this robot was, but if it was anything like an Atlesian knight, she'd probably manage okay.
She swung her heavy weapon around in one hand, imbedding its long, curved blade into the swampy ground. Her enemy tried to discharge a shot, but it couldn't hope to match her speed. So few things could.
She swung around, using her scythe to stabilize her position, before letting her momentum carry her feet to the droid's face, knocking its slim head off.
Flimsier than an Atlesian knight. Either that or the years hadn't been kind.
There were more in this station: possibly the only active settlement left on the blackened surface of Remnant. Her only way of contacting her friend.
They may have been all that was left. And if she was right and Penny was alive somewhere, Penny was all she had left to live for... and all the more reason to fight.
Penny joined Obi-Wan in the hangar rafters, watching General Grievous address another group of aliens. Given he was threatening to manhandle one of his own allies, Penny had been quite correct in thinking him a villain. As if his name hadn't been enough of a giveaway.
Obi-Wan had deliberately obfuscated their arrival, pretending to request refueling from the local religious order, who'd tipped him off about the presence of battle droids... and indeed it seemed as though there were quite a lot of them.
Obi-Wan was quiet, waiting for an opportunity to move in. Penny wasn't sure exactly what his plan was, but maybe they could...
...inadvertently fall from the rafters and land behind the droid general. At least she recovered in the air and landed on her feet, though the impact left a most unsightly crater in the hangar floor.
Grievous turned around and sneered at her.
Penny thought on what to say. Despite having arrived as the vanguard of a large military operation for the express purpose of capturing this creature (and probably ruining Obi-Wan's carefully laid out plan in the process), she couldn't think of a reason not to be friendly. "Sal-u-tations!"
"The little droid Jedi who stole from me," Grievous snarled. "Have you come to return my lightsabers?"
Penny wasn't sure how he could possibly reach that conclusion, so she opted to clear things up for him, dramatically pointing forward. "I am here to capture you in the name of the Grand Army of the Republic to ensure peace and safety for the galaxy!"
Grievous was so taken aback by her honesty he actually stumbled over his words for a moment, but quickly composed himself. "Well, then..."
He slowly unfurled his cape, reaching down to select lightsabers still attached to his Duranium waist. "...attack, droid Jedi."
Penny honestly hadn't expected him to comply, but it was worth an attempt. She drew each of her lightsabers, summoning twin blades of green light.
"Back away," Grievous instructed his minions. "I will deal with this Jedi slave myself..."
Penny glanced around at the droids lowering their weapons. She did her utmost not to look up in the rafters and betray Obi-Wan's presence: as long as she'd already screwed up the plan she saw no reason to wreck things any further for him.
Instead that left her to focus her attention on General Grievous. She managed to get the better of him in their last encounter, but she wasn't entirely sure she could replicate the success. In their battle aboard the flagship, Penny had the advantage of surprise. Here, she'd literally fallen right into the general's base.
And he'd selected four lightsabers instead of two. Why would he...
Grievous split his arms, dividing two into four, each ending in a three fingered hand. He activated four lightsabers -three blue and one green- and spun them around as a little demonstration of his agility before assuming a combat stance.
Obi-Wan had told Penny there were a variety of Jedi combat techniques she should try to emulate, and had shown her a few of his defensive forms. Unfortunately that ran counter to the style she'd been taught in Atlas and -fragmented though the memories were- that was where she entrusted her blade.
Penny moved to attack as Grievous wished. He easily pinned down her two lightsabers with two of his own, leaving him an extra set of arms to attack. Penny ducked as fast as she could, but his blade singed away a few of her red hairs on her way down.
Penny broke from their blade lock and rolled along the floor before Grievous could pursue. She moved up to try and attack an unguarded flank, only to caught by the general's foot, clamping down over her face and slamming her into the hangar floor. Penny frantically moved her blades up into parrying position, just narrowly managing to deflect lightsabers being driven into her back.
"Worm," Grievous snarled, hoisting Penny up and thrusting out his leg to kick her away. Penny quickly scrambled to her feet as Grievous pursued her, four lightsabers still at the ready.
Penny drew back, trying to recall the defensive forms Obi-Wan had demonstrated... trying to focus on techniques that would perform better than... well, her previous display.
Penny waited for Grievous to get closer, to go on the offensive himself. She watched carefully as the lightsabers started to spin around in his hands as the general rotated his wrists...
Penny saw her opening and moved to strike with a single blade. When Grievous moved to pin her down with two, Penny angled her second strike to hit his rotating wrist in mid-motion, severing one three-fingered hand and removing one lightsaber in an instant.
Grievous howled, but more in anger than pain. He reached down and struck Penny with his knee while her lightsabers were high in the air, driving all the wind from her and knocking her to the floor. Penny could only look up in horror as Grievous bore down on her with all three remaining blades ready to-
"Hello, there."
Obi-Wan stood in the hangar bay a few feet away. Grievous instantly turned his attention from the redhead beneath him to the Jedi Master standing out in the open.
"Kenobi," Grievous snarled. Whatever hatred he may have had for Penny, it paled before his enmity for Kenobi.
Penny lamented putting Obi-Wan in this position. No doubt he'd had some intricate plan of attack that would've seen to the general's defeat and she'd ruined it all by dropping into the middle of the hangar and forced him to do something rash...
That was, until additional artillery strikes rained down at Grievous' back, as the Republic ships descended into the atmosphere, Cody and the Clone Troopers descending to join the fight. Penny didn't take long to admire the sight, rolling out from under Grievous' heel while Obi-Wan took her place engaging him.
Maybe she'd managed to wound him enough to give Obi-Wan the upper hand. And the least she could do to return his saving her was keep the droids off his back. While Obi-Wan and Grievous clashed, Penny moved to attack the battle droids, dividing their attention between the surprise assault of the Grand Army of the Republic and the small robot Jedi attacking their flank.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Grievous retreating and Obi-Wan chasing after him. While it was entirely possible Obi-Wan would defeat Grievous on his own, Penny couldn't bear the thought of leaving him...
She moved after the duo, deflecting the clumsy blaster fire of droids on her way out.
On Remnant, she'd finished cutting down the droids manning the station. The downside was she now had no one to tell her what to look for, as their consoles were written in an unfamiliar language and she had no idea what any of the buttons actually did. She was never the best when dealing with tech...
So she tried pushing any button not specifically red in color, causing the various consoles to beep angrily at her, as though they too were confused by her actions.
Frustrated, she booted one of the screens, drawing up some sort of holographic display... totally intentional, of course.
Planets... so many different planets, not so far (relatively) from Remnant. She'd never imagined leaving the surface and going out into space, but it didn't seem like these robots had any trouble doing so.
Penny was out there, somewhere in that distance away from Remnant... she felt it, her waking somehow triggered another.
Something about Penny's return to life struck her, penetrated her... binding her to this other life force, an echo at the edge of a long darkness.
This map told her nothing. Not yet.
So she concentrated, listening... waiting for the sound that would be her guide.
Grievous had the upper hand. Obi-Wan was dangling from a platform over the deep pit of the sinkhole, and Grievous was approaching him, armed and ready. Obi-Wan was struggling to grasp a blaster just out of his reach...
Grievous had been eagerly awaiting this moment, when he'd finally kill his most persistent nemesis. They'd clashed in many battles and nearly killed each other more than once, but today... today they put their rivalry to rest, when Grievous heard the sweet sound of Kenobi's body crashing into the rocks below.
Kenobi was trying in vain to reach a weapon to counter him. Grievous couldn't picture a Jedi firing a blaster...
...or attacking him from behind, as a green lightsaber severed the arm holding the electrostaff he'd brought to finish his adversary. Grievous whirled around in rage, only for the red-haired droid Jedi to sever his legs in mid motion, leaving Grievous to tumble helplessly to the floor.
Obi-Wan watched in astonishment as Penny stood over the fallen Grievous, the general glaring up at her in rage. He had certainly hoped to capture Grievous alive, but hadn't considered it likely given the general's... temperment.
Penny walked over to him, extending a hand to help lift him back up. Obi-Wan was immensely relieved: he'd been planning to draw a blaster to his hand to stop Grievous... how uncivilized he'd have let the war make him.
Soon Obi-Wan joined Penny in standing over the beaten Grievous, still glaring with his pallid yellow eyes.
"I have to inform the Council," Obi-Wan noted. "But I think you just won the Clone Wars, Penny."
"Master Windu, I must talk with you," Anakin requested.
"Skywalker," Windu greeted. "We've just received word that Obi-Wan has captured General Grievous. We're on our way to make sure the Chancellor returns emergency power back to the senate."
Anakin sighed. He'd been steeling himself for this moment, but didn't know for sure if he'd be able to say it, even when he made the trip to see Windu for this exact purpose. "He... won't give up his power. I've just learned a terrible truth: I think Chancellor Palpatine is a Sith Lord."
"A Sith Lord?" Windu repeated, incredulous.
"Yes," Anakin nodded. "The one we've been searching for."
Windu was contemplative for only a moment; he spent far less time agonizing over the truth than Anakin had. "Then our worst fears have been realized. We must move quickly if the Jedi order is to survive."
"Master, the Chancellor is very powerful," Anakin warned him. "You'll need my help if you're going to arrest him."
Windu considered the offer, but very briefly. "For your own good, stay out of this affair. I sense a great deal of confusion in you, young Skywalker. There is much fear that clouds your judgment."
"I must go, Master." Anakin protested.
"No," Windu firmly replied. After allowing a moment for his edict to settle, Windu allowed himself to offer some degree of reassurance. "If what you've told me is true, you will have gained my trust. But for now, remain here; wait in the council chambers until we return."
Anakin clearly wanted to protest, but the possibility of finally gaining the approval of the head of the Jedi council was enough to stay his hand. "...yes, Master."
He watched Windu and a handpicked team of Jedi Masters depart for the office of the Supreme Chancellor, knowing that one way or another the galaxy was about to change... and he would not be the party to alter its direction.
More than that, his uncertainty only worsened the further away Windu became... and he thought on what Chancellor Palpatine had done to mentor him and support him from afar. Whatever evil the Sith may have been, the man may not have deserved the sort of justice Mace Windu tended to deal.
And more than that, Palpatine told him about how the Sith could cheat death... and death seemed on the horizon for the woman he loved, and Palpatine was the only one who could do anything about it...
On Mandalore, Death Watch held against the small Republic strike force. Only Ahsoka and Rex made it into the chambers of prime minister Almec. Almec himself was nowhere to be found, but seated lazily in his chair was the true ruler of Mandalore, waiting for the inevitable to come to him.
"Children come to claim their place, restore their honor," Maul mused, lifting from the seat of power. "To restore the illusion of order at the cost of change."
"If you talk instead of fight it'll be that much easier for us to finish our mission," Ahsoka told him. "So we gonna do this the easy way? Because much as I want to cut you up for some of the stuff you've pulled, I'd much rather get you to surrender and put an end to your little Shadow Collective before any more of my friends have to suffer your tantrums."
"An end?" Maul repeated. "No, there is no end to this war, only the rise of one power after another. One to have power and the other to seek it; always the inevitable clash, always the same story told again and again."
"You're even crazier than I heard," Ahsoka observed.
"Better I should exceed expectations than fail to meet them," Maul replied. "Better the shadow should be darkest at its core... dark enough to smother all light and guard its secrets."
Maul finished his pontificating and focused his attention on the two invaders in his throne room, igniting the red hue of his lightsaber. "Enough for one to covet what waits in the dark and seek the rewards it promises... you have talent, child. You could learn so much if you listened to the dark side. It echoes in the Force now, washing away all the light in the galaxy... either those lights must survive its suffocating grip or be darker still to match it. And you... are wanting."
Ahsoka ignited each of her lightsabers. Rex primed a grenade.
"So be it," Maul decided, before rushing in to meet his assailants.
On Coruscant, Anakin could only watch as Palpatine finished his work, unleashing a powerful burst of lightning into Windu, blasting him out the window and to plummet to the ground thousands of meters below.
He helped a Sith Lord kill one of the leaders of the Jedi council... he helped Palpatine murder a man who'd tried to keep the galaxy at peace.
"What have I done?" Anakin wondered, staring out at the skyline through the shattered window.
When Palpatine rose to address him, his face had been twisted and grayed by the effects of his lightning reflected back at him by Windu's lightsaber. His eyes had become pallid, his skin wrinkled and deformed. When he rose, his mask had been burnt away... and only Darth Sidious remained to address the confused and guilt-ridden Jedi.
"You're fulfilling your destiny, Anakin..."
On Utapau, Penny had gleefully carried the uncooperative but largely harmless Grievous back to the staging area. Obi-Wan was conversing with Commander Cody, strategizing the remainder of their battle against the routed and leaderless -but still thousands strong- Droid army. Once they completed their battle on Utapau and freed the natives from the Confederate holdouts, they'd return to Coruscant fresh from victory in one of -if not the- last battles of the Clone Wars.
Obi-Wan had mounted a lizard like creature he referred to as 'Boga' and was heading back to rejoin the battle. Penny had no trouble remaining behind with Grievous... she didn't think there'd be much more to do after they finished mopping up the droids.
But Obi-Wan wasn't even a kilometer away when Commander Cody received a message, addressing a small hologram of a hooded figure.
"Commander Cody... the time has come."
Penny recognized the voice. It sounded almost like that old man Grievous held hostage...
Grievous knew it too. "Lord Sidious..."
Penny was looking at the confused droid general when the hologram concluded its thought. "Execute Order 66."
It was hard to tell if anything changed in Cody behind his expressionless mask. But Grievous went from confused... to elated.
"...yes, my Lord," Cody finally agreed, setting his little communication device away. Penny looked at Grievous, confused as to why..."Blast him!"
Penny watched as the clone troopers fired one of their heavy cannons at Obi-Wan and Boga, striking close enough to dislodge their footing and send them tumbling down into the sinkhole. Penny tried desperately to reach for him as he fell... only for her attention to be drawn to the other clone troopers -including Cody- leveling weapons at her.
"C-Commander...?" Penny tentatively wondered.
"Good soldiers follow orders," was all Cody could manage to say.
Grievous howled with laughter. "At least I lived to see the Jedi exterminated!"
Penny had no experience with friends turning on her. But her combat reflexes remained sharp. She ignited her lightsabers just as the clones opened fire on her.
On Mandalore, Ahsoka finally succeeded in disarming Maul. Rex got a few good shots in before Maul took him out of the fight, and Ahsoka capitalized on her friend's contributions and finally got the better of the would-be crime lord. She had intended to take him alive, but she was sorely tempted to take him off the board entirely, especially after she looked back at the burns Maul's lightsaber left on her friend.
But before the temptation for a final blow could overpower her, a very different darkness instilled in her... an echo from across the galaxy, of Anakin on Coruscant.
She'd experienced the sensation of his emotions before; he didn't filter his thoughts with her and trusted her to process what he was really feeling. She'd felt him become angry in the heat of battle, known his frustration at playing politics on the galactic stage, and heard his honesty when he laid himself on the line on her behalf. She'd seen the tinges of darkness leak out, but never once believed he'd succumb to that power.
But he had. Anakin had fallen to the dark side, and she heard his hatred from a galaxy away...
"Anakin," she whispered, looking away from her target for just a moment.
When she looked back, Maul was gone.
Ahsoka quickly moved to Rex, just to check on him. He was urging her to pursue, to chase after the dangerous criminal while there was still a chance to stop him.
But before she had the chance, the surviving remnants of her squad scaled the tower, leveling their weapons at their nominal commander.
"Soldier, what are you doing?" Rex demanded of the nearest squad leader.
"Good soldiers follow orders," replied the squad leader, menacingly approaching his former ally.
Ahsoka wasn't sure what to make of it. She'd heard stories about troopers going rogue and turning on the Jedi leading them... but she wasn't a Jedi. Not anymore.
Unfortunately, it seemed the clones (and their blasters) didn't notice the distinction.
Penny hunkered behind the shuttle, dragging the crippled Grievous with her more by instinct than anything else. The clones were still peppering the ship with their shots; apparently they weren't worried about destroying the vehicle if it meant killing their target.
Grievous, despite being completely helpless and pinned down by Republic gunfire, seemed elated. "Lord Sidious finally did it; he's killed the Jedi. You're already dead, little wormling... I just hope I can see Kenobi's body too before they're finished!"
"Now is really not the time for such unhelpful thoughts!" Penny scolded him, before raising her voice and crying out across the constantly buffeted shuttle. "Please, everyone stop firing! We're all allies!"
The Clone Troopers had no response but more gunfire. They were probably going to destroy the shuttlecraft (and Penny and Grievous by proximity) within a minute.
She wasn't sure what to do. She turned her attention to Grievous, the monster of a general she'd specifically come to put a stop to... and now the only one in a similar situation to herself. "Can you fly this ship?"
Grievous scoffed. "Maybe if I had two hands..."
"I will gladly assist in whatever way you need!" Penny assured him. "But if you don't help me now we'll both be killed!"
Grievous thought on her words. This girl was an honest one: young and naive enough to be malleable. And while he was genuinely enjoying seeing the clones turn on their Jedi puppeteers, the fact he'd end up destroyed after their fire finally punched through the shuttle...
"You'll have to carry me inside," Grievous told her. "And hold them off for a few seconds while I start it up."
Penny nodded. "Well it's a good thing we didn't kill each other, then!"
"There's still time," Grievous assured her. He wasn't an honest one like Penny, but sometimes his true nature leaked out at the worst possible times.
Penny sheathed one lightsaber and lifted Grievous in her hand. With her remaining blade she made to the rear of the shuttle, deflecting blaster bolts as she could, trying desperately not to hit the troopers firing at her... at least not lethally.
Grievous opened the shuttle's bay door. Penny flung him towards the cockpit, letting the general drag himself the rest of the way with his remaining arm. Based on their last encounter, she was confident he could find his way to an escape route even when wounded.
And Grievous did, forcing the ship's engines to life. Penny quickly moved into the bay, still deflecting blaster fire.
"We have to break for the atmosphere," Grievous told her, trying desperately to steer one-handed. "Hold on."
"No, they have cannons pointed up!" Penny replied, recalling what had been unleashed on Obi-Wan. "We have to go down! We have to retrieve my friend!"
"You think Kenobi lives?" Grievous snarled.
"Don't you?" Penny argued.
Grievous had to admit... Kenobi should have been killed many times beforehand. And much as he hated the prospect of retrieving his most persistent and infuriating adversary, any allies he could take at the moment... and not being blown up by Republic guns was certainly a plus.
Grievous cursed as he pushed the shuttle down into the sinkhole. The clones had to adjust their positions to continue firing, giving the ship a few precious seconds of not being pummeled by blasters.
Penny searched for Obi-Wan or his mount. She hoped her sensors could detect... something for them to retrieve. She didn't yet understand the Force well enough to rely on it. She trusted the mechanical to find the biological.
And she saw him, dragging himself out of a watery pit onto cragged rock. How he'd missed them... she could only speculate.
Penny reached into her backpack. Only a few of her blades had been successfully replaced, but a strong, taut wire would certainly help...
Even if... she had some trouble thinking about wires cutting through her... tearing her to pieces... killing her...
No, she couldn't let that stop her now. She needed to save Obi-Wan. She needed to save a friend.
Penny fired, embedding one of her swords in the rock by Obi-Wan. When he saw her waving at him from the shuttle bay, Obi-Wan wasted no time in grabbing hold and severing her sword from wire with his lightsaber.
Penny retracted, pulling him up, even with great strain as he fumbled out the back. Grievous moved the ship up just as the Republic troops reoriented their cannons, and Penny pulled Obi-Wan inside just before their shuttle made a break for the atmosphere.
Obi-Wan closed the bay as quickly as he could before they'd both be sucked outside, turning his attention almost as quickly to their pilot. "Grievous?!"
"Kenobi," Grievous snarled in reply.
"Not the time, Obi-Wan!" Penny told him. "Why are your troops turning on you? What's going on?!"
Obi-Wan nodded. "Something has happened, Penny. We need to contact the Senate right away... find someone who can explain what's led to the Clones turning on us."
"That's an easy thing to explain," Grievous replied from the helm. "Lord Sidious has seen his plan come to fruition. Just as he promised; the Jedi will be purged from the galaxy."
Obi-Wan stormed over to him. "What do you know?"
"I know that this war has gone exactly as Lord Sidious wished it to, Kenobi... and now he's clearing his pawns from the board," Grievous explained, regaining just a bit of his usual smug demeanor. "Starting with you."
On Remnant, she couldn't find the location Penny resided in; she was somewhere in the blackness of space. But she did have a clear visual of where Penny would ultimately come to be... a world of molten rock and twisted metal. She searched the hologram for it... for a place fitting that description.
The console beeped at her. Someone was trying to contact the monitoring station; even she wasn't so foolish as to dismiss a rapidly blinking light and a repeating noise. It was some sort of hail...
The cloaked woman pressed the button. "Uh... hello?"
The holographic display of the planets was replaced by a strange machine: a bipedal thing with thick arms and legs, three optics and a protruding 'mouth', with strange symbols drawn between the features of its face. It spoke in some language she could not comprehend.
"Uh, could you try that one again?" she requested, hoping this wasn't just someone notifying they were on their way to attack.
The machine adjusted something... wherever it was. "This is Kalani," -she knew his words now- "Contacting all Separatists installations online. A shutdown command has been sent to outlying droid facilities and active military forces. I am attempting to locate any Separatists yet unaffected by this Republic deception."
Shut down command? Yeah, that'd do. That'd explain why there weren't any functioning robots left. "Uh, yeah, that happened here! All the uh... droids, the droids right, they're offline! But the rest of us, we're... we're all fine... here... now. How are you?"
Kalani eyed her curiously. "Offline? Identify yourself."
"I'm R-" she began, before very quickly changing tactics. "I mean, that's not important right now! Our troops have been uh... broken and we need to regroup! Get me a ship so I can join the other separate artists!"
Kalani stared at her with his three unblinking eyes. She kind of lowered her head a bit so he couldn't make out her face; so he'd only see a girl in a hood and cloak.
"Regroup," Kalani repeated. "Yes, that is the logical course. I will dispatch a transport to receive you and escort you to Mustafar, to regroup with the Council there, per General Grievous' order."
General Grievous? Council? Mustafar?
Mustafar...
Something about that name...
A world of melting red and jagged black... of fire and rock and pain...
That was where she had to go. Not the first time she ran right into the mouth of danger for her friend.
"Okay, then!"
"We should return to Coruscant," Obi-Wan argued. "Plead our case before the Senate."
"If we make it to Coruscant, Sidious will kill us before we leave the landing platform," Grievous replied. "Your only hope -our only hope- is to regroup with the surviving Separatist forces and convince them to help us. If I had a lightsaber -or legs- it'd be much easier for us to gain the information we need."
"And where are the Separatists now?" Obi-Wan inquired.
"They were being sent to Mustafar," Grievous explained. "Sidious didn't explain his reasoning to me, but if he wanted the council assembled in one place..."
Grievous moved his arm from the helm to the communication signals. "What are you doing?" Penny asked.
"Scanning for any CIS communications," Grievous answered. "I want to know if there are any reinforcements we can reach before we travel to Mustafar."
"General, you're being awfully presumptuous in thinking we'll agree to-" Obi-Wan didn't get a chance to finish his thought, as the shuttle received a response to its wide hail.
Grievous looked up at him. Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes and went to answer. "Hello?"
A hologram appeared to greet him of a super tactical droid. "Jedi... Obi-Wan Kenobi."
"Kalani!" Grievous snapped, commanding the droid's attention, frantically typing one-handed. "I'm sending you our coordinates. Where is the nearest CIS fleet for rendezvous?"
"There are no active Separatist fleets, General," Kalani replied. "A shutdown command has been sent to all Confederate forces. Only two other facilities remained active after it was sent."
"Seems they shut down your droids just like they tried to remove the Jedi," Obi-Wan noted.
"Is the Council still on Mustafar?" Grievous inquired.
"Yes, General," Kalani confirmed. "Viceroy Gunray received orders to receive a 'Darth Vader' pending his return from Coruscant."
"Darth... Vader?" Obi-Wan repeated.
"We are en route to Mustafar," Grievous told him. "Transmit all relevant orders and communications sent by the Council to this shuttle."
"General... the vessel you are commanding registers as a Republic shuttle," Kalani observed, clearly suspicious.
"And this is a real Jedi I'm forced to work alongside," Grievous growled. "Our masters have betrayed us, and this 'Vader' has been sent to kill the Council! Provide me something, Kalani, or Sidious will come to destroy you too!"
Kalani considered the words. Penny stepped in. "Please, if you have proof of betrayal it can help all those robots who were destroyed by the clone troopers!"
While it was a rather inelegant way of putting it... Kalani could concede the logic of her argument. If it was one of his own (former) allies that had issued the shutdown order then there may have been a way to reverse the process and restore the military might the CIS had lost.
"Very well," Kalani agreed. "I will transmit the communications sent by the Viceroy on Mustafar."
Grievous turned back to Obi-Wan. "Still think I'm trying to lead you into a trap?"
"I'm not ruling it out," Obi-Wan dryly replied. "But for the moment... it'll have to do."
Penny turned to Grievous as he waited for the download. "What are you going to do?"
"Expose the human who betrayed me," Grievous answered. "If he only made me to be discarded I should return the favor in kind."
Sidious knew he could wait no longer. He'd heard reports that Grievous had escaped Utapau with two Jedi, but there was no way Grievous could ever collaborate with his hated enemies. The Clone troopers may well have bungled their orders there as they had on Kashyyk, but it made little difference. If Grievous was fleeing back to him, Sidious would destroy the General himself. If Obi-Wan Kenobi escaped alive he'd hide the fact from Darth Vader and kill the Jedi Master before word reached his apprentice.
He had to address the Senate now and take his final step towards consolidating his power. They'd only accept the Jedi had turned on the Chancellor if they believed the threat of the Separatists had ended - if they thought General Grievous was destroyed.
Lies were second nature to him. He'd have no trouble telling them but one more.
When their ship reached Mustafar, Penny was the first to step outside, Grievous strapped to her back. He pointed towards the mining facility just past the landing pad. "In their headquarters is a communications device that can reach Coruscant. We need only broadcast a message to the Senate. Can you think of someone who'd accept the call?"
"I have just the friend in mind," Penny replied. "Who happens to have the ear of a Senator!"
Obi-Wan nodded, stepping out after them. "This platform seems deserted... are you sure the Separatist leaders are here?"
"They were," Grievous dryly replied. Obi-Wan didn't share his grim take, scouring about.
"All right," Obi-Wan conceded. "Let's get inside. Just try not to activate any defense mechanisms or internal alarms, please General... I'd hate to think we brought you here for nothing."
"I'll be happy to kill you if the opportunity presents itself, Kenobi," Grievous assured him. "But for the moment you still have a use... in case my former allies aren't as helpful as my super tactical droid."
The three approached, drawing closer...
...and when they reached the entrance found a man cloaked in black waiting for them, looking up with a pallid yellow eye.
"Anakin!" Penny breathed in surprise.
"...it can't be," Obi-Wan murmured.
Anakin acknowledged him first. "Master." He then turned his attention to Grievous on Penny's back. "The company you're keeping these days..."
Obi-Wan tried to stay composed. "I could say the same. Why are you here on Mustafar?"
"I was sent here to eliminate the remaining Separatists," Anakin answered. "Seems you missed one on Utapau..."
He was reaching for his lightsaber. Obi-Wan tried desperately to wave him off. "Wait! Grievous has evidence that Chancellor Palpatine is the Sith Lord we've been searching for! The one who caused this war in the first place."
Anakin did not answer. He was holding his weapon at the ready.
Horrible realization started to dawn on Obi-Wan. "You already knew. You... you're working for-"
"I am serving the Republic," Anakin flatly explained. "So long as it remains the Republic."
Obi-Wan thought on the message Kalani relayed to them. What was it he'd called the Sith Lord?
"Darth... Vader," Obi-Wan began. At last Anakin took his eye from Grievous. At last his attention turned to his supposed friend.
"I am sorry, Master," Anakin told him... finally allowing himself some sliver of emotion, some tiny regret. "Whatever needed to become of the Jedi... I never wanted you to suffer for it with them."
Obi-Wan tried to reply, but that was the opportunity Anakin was waiting for. His lightsaber ignited and he went for Grievous.
Penny reached for her own blade and just narrowly managed to deflect the attack. Anakin glared at her, irritated by her interruption.
"Anakin, why are you doing this?!" Penny demanded. "The Chancellor is a bad man! He ordered the clones to attack Obi-Wan and me and who knows how many others!"
Anakin didn't seem bothered by this at all. He seemed more interested in mounting a follow-up attack.
Obi-Wan jumped into the fray, igniting his own lightsaber to drive Anakin away. "Penny, get Grievous to the communications console! I'll hold him off!"
Penny did as instructed. She hated to see two of her new friends come to blows, but with all the death and destruction she'd already witnessed... it was but a minor scuffle that would have to wait.
Anakin turned his attention to Obi-Wan once more. "Attacking me to protect General Grievous... how far you've fallen."
"I could say the same of you," Obi-Wan replied. "What have you done, Anakin? Why have you let this Sith Lord poison your mind?!"
"I've done what needed to be done," Anakin firmly replied. "And I'll do so again... even to you... my Master..."
Penny scrambled to the console, unceremoniously dropping Grievous where he pointed. Grievous scampered up onto it while Penny stood at his back, lightsaber still drawn. She tried to look at the door rather than the bodies scattered on the floor.
Grievous achieved his uplink. "Where is this friend of yours' I'm meant to contact?"
"He's with the Senatorial delegation from Naboo!" Penny explained. "His name is R2-D2!"
"R2-D2?" Grievous repeated. "Bah, entrusting this message to a droid..."
"Do you have a better idea?" Penny asked.
Grievous snarled and punched in the message.
"...has left me scarred. And deformed. But I assure you- my resolve has never been stronger!"
The Senate applauded him again. He had them eating out of his hand.
In the box belonging to Senator Amidala, her astromech droid started a loud chorus of beeps and whistles. The Senator looked down at the blue and white cylinder, listening to... a message of some sort. A rude interruption, but one Palpatine could easily talk over.
"In order to ensure security and continuing stability..." Palpatine began, only for some additional commotion to draw his attention from the Senator from Naboo. The droid was displaying a hologram that was captivating Senator Amidala and Senator Organa of Alderaan.
Inconsequential. This was the moment he'd been waiting for all his life. This was the final day of the Clone Wars, the glorious triumph that had always awaited him.
"...the Republic will be reorganized into the first...Galactic..."
"This is General Grievous of the Confederacy of Independent Systems," came the broadcast from Senator Amidala's box, right before Palpatine could finish his pronouncement. Her astromech droid displayed a hologram, clearly showing the droid general -badly maimed, but clearly alive... very much not as Palpatine had described him moments beforehand.
"Supreme Chancellor Palpatine has played us all for fools," Grievous snarled. Whatever thunder Palpatine had was stolen out from under him as every Senator turned their eyes to the delegation from Naboo. "He is not only the unquestioned leader of your Republic, but the true leader of the Separatists!"
With his remaining arm, Grievous pressed buttons off screen from his hologram, instead displaying a new image... of a smaller holographic projection of Sidious -very nearly identical to his appearance now, openly wearing his Sith robes- addressing Viceroy Gunray.
"The plan has gone as you had promised, my Lord," Gunray affirmed.
"You have done well, Viceroy," Palpatine's voice -nearly identical to the one the Senate had just heard- emerged from the smaller hologram. "When my new apprentice Darth Vader arrives... he will... take care of you."
The Senators murmured. Palpatine glanced around the chamber.
Grievous once more filled the holographic space. "I was promised the chance to kill Jedi... that was the only reason I fought this war for the Sith. Now that my use has ended, your Supreme Chancellor tried to have me destroyed. Just as he had the rest of his former allies..."
Grievous expanded the hologram, clearly showing the dead bodies of the council behind him. And more than that... the red-haired Jedi who defeated him over Coruscant.
"He says the war is over, because he decided it so," Grievous snarled. "He's been playing both sides from the start!"
Palpatine glared at the hologram, and past Grievous to Amidala, Organa, and that infuriating astromech droid broadcasting the message.
There were more than murmurs. The Senators were raising one objection after another.
Palpatine had been seconds from total victory. Now this red-haired girl and this treacherous cyborg...
He tried to say something. But he had no words. Senators from all across the Republic demanded answers.
He had none to offer. His rage was too great.
He had not intended to do this yet... not for many more years. But it seemed he'd have to start sooner than planned... and destroy the Senate.
And then... the girl.
Grievous remained on the holographic display several seconds longer, letting the Senate have a good look at him and confirming his survival. Once he felt they'd received the message (and he'd savored the infuriated look of his former master) the former droid commander finally disconnected. Given the commotion Grievous heard on the other side, they'd successfully upset the balance of power at the very least.
The Republic was in chaos, the Jedi were all but exterminated already... it wasn't exactly the victory he'd been hoping for, but Grievous could be content with causing so much mayhem.
"Where are Obi-Wan and Anakin now?" Penny asked.
Grievous switched from the communication systems to a monitoring station, slow to start up. Once he spent some time working on the new console, however... he pointed to a display of the mining facility, on a bridge not far from the landing pad. "There."
Penny nodded, rushing out to join her friends. Grievous looked around at the controls... if he so wished he could dunk all three Jedi into the lava, once they moved into place. He'd simply deactivate the force field keeping the facility protected from the molten surface of Mustafar, and slowly but surely they'd all be dragged down into oblivion.
He'd had his revenge on Sidious. Killing Kenobi, Skywalker, and the girl too...
Grievous came very close to doing so, until he saw another Separatist ship approaching the facility on his display...
Obi-Wan had tried repeatedly to stop the fight and talk, but Anakin would not hear of it. He was so consumed by his anger and hate, so wholly succumbed to the dark side that he barely spoke.
Penny finally reached them, putting her lightsaber away when she ran between the two. "Please, stop!" She put out the flat of her hands to either man.
Running between two swinging lightsabers... Anakin only narrowly avoided chopping her in two.
"Step aside," Anakin commanded. "This doesn't concern you!"
"But it does!" Penny protested. "You're both my friends; and friends aren't supposed to fight each other!"
She remained firmly between them, palms facing either man. Obi-Wan had managed to stay his hand, but Anakin was clearly struggling to do so.
"Please," Penny pleaded. "Obi-Wan is your best friend! How could you ever harm your best friend?"
She thought on what she'd told Obi-Wan before; about how important was the thought of a single life and a single moment in shaping who she was. "Think about all you've been through together! Remember what's important to you... please."
"You are my brother, Anakin," Obi-Wan reminded his former apprentice. "Whatever has become of you, that has always been true!"
"You don't have to do this, Anakin!" Penny reminded him. "The war is over! That Sidious man has been revealed to the Senate!"
Anakin knew Penny wasn't lying; she didn't seem capable of lying. But the anger within him was addictive... killing them was the simple solution, and returning to Coruscant to take leadership over the Clone Troopers with Palpatine exposed... he could rule the galaxy...
"Your friends still want to help you, Anakin!" Penny assured him. "We're here now and we can help you! We won't let you go through this alone!"
"Alone?" Anakin repeated. "You'd know, wouldn't you, Penny? You don't have anyone else in this time but us... the two of us and R2. I don't mean to leave you alone, but if you stand against me... then you're my enemy."
"Penny is not alone."
All three of them turned their attention to it. Penny couldn't believe it: she knew that voice.
A figure in a red robe drew nearer. Obi-Wan was quickly on his guard, but Penny half-heartedly waved him off- she was simply too interested in looking at the approaching figure to invest more effort into stopping him. She was still having a hard time believing it was true.
Until she pulled back her hood and revealed her silver eyes.
"Ruby..."
In a small ship fleeing from Coruscant, Darth Sidious sat in his quarters, thinking on events. His twin armies had been reduced to a handful of loyalists. His Republic and his Confederacy both lay in shambles by his own hands. The Jedi had been reduced to a handful, but they had not been destroyed.
He knew where he was fleeing to. He had innumerable places in the galaxy to hide, but only one place he could hope to build an army to counteract this.
He reached out into the inky blackness of space, reaching for the baneful red buried in the dark.
"So," she mused. "You need me again. You run back to the thing you discarded..."
Sidious opened his pallid yellow eyes. "My enemy is your enemy."
He opened his mind to her, letting her see clearly the red-haired girl who helped Grievous broadcast the message. He felt her rage a thousand star systems away.
"Very well. Come, then," she bid. "I will receive you and... entertain what offer you have. But do not think I will be fool enough to let you betray me twice."
"Of course not," Sidious acknowledged. "This time I have no choice but to share... and I will do as I must for my revenge. Even for you... my Queen."
Salem's red eyes continued to glow in the blackness. The Dark Lord of the Sith needed an army, and Remnant was covered in the mass of one... all waiting for this moment...
...to snuff the light not only from Remnant, but from the galaxy...