Forty snubfighters against an entire fleet. This was going to be tricky. But for Anakin Skywalker, there was no fight that he couldn't win.

First report up from the planet: two hours and counting until the first reinforcements arrive. That's two hours for us to do the impossible. A lot of us are going to die in the next two hours, and if we can't keep the Confederacy at bay it will all be for nothing.

May the Force be with us all.

Anakin watched as roughly three hundred droid starfighters gushed from the hangar bays of the Separatist cruisers, sharp daggers headed for the Republic fighter screen. The Republic ships, mostly tri-winged V-19 Torrent starfighters, rose to intercept, and a great furball erupted. In his tweaked Jedi starfighter, Anakin zipped around the fighter melee, seeming to be in every place at once, blasting droids and covering his wingmen. Taking the azure ship out of the raging battle, he made a sharp loop around the nearest orbital city, Orr-Om, picking up speed before he once again plunged into the fight. A cobalt blur, Anakin whooped with exhilaration as he dumped a proton torpedo into a cluster of droid fighters, tore through the raging explosion, and vaped another droid in a head-to-head contest.

But even Anakin's mastery of his ship couldn't turn the tide, and slowly the droid fighters began to overwhelm the V-19s. With only twenty-five ships left active, flying against well over two hundred droids, Anakin decided that it was time for a change in strategy. Opening a squadron-wide communications channel, he ordered, "Everyone follow me in closer to the city. We'll benefit from it's shields and laser turrets."

The Republic squadrons raced in towards Orr-Om, with the droids in fast pursuit. A thundering boom rocked the heavens as the eighteen defensive turbolasers aboard Orr-Om roared into action, swatting away groups of droids like mere flitnats.

"It's working!" laughed Anakin, "One and a half hours to go…come on men, we could win this one!"

Beyond the furball, with the space lanes now unobstructed, the Separatist cruisers moved in closer to the planet, deploying the troops.

*        *        *

"What's he up to?" exclaimed Obi-Wan, "He's giving the warships a chance to get closer to the planet!" Kenobi groped for his comlink, and paged his wayward apprentice. "Anakin! Anakin, do you read me? What in the blazes do you think you're doing?"

"Moving in for more cover, Master," came the crackling reply.

Obi-Wan almost scoffed. "Not only are you putting the citizens of Orr-Om in danger, you've given the Separatists a free run at the planet!"

Obi-Wan could hear Anakin hesitating, and in his mind could see the young boy's face, reddening with the realisation that he'd made a grave mistake. "Uh…I didn't think, master…I'm…I'm sorry…"

"No time for that!" snapped Kenobi, "We've got droids inbound." The General sighed. "Get back to the planet, Anakin. The space battle is over. I only hope the ground defense fares better!"

*        *        *

Kenobi had twenty precious minutes, in which he had the eight hundred clones attached to the base dig out a large trench network that surrounded the installation, whilst temporary laser turrets and shield generators were erected to further protect the base. His apprentice got to work loading a battered freighter in case of emergency evacuation, whilst the remaining sixteen pilots were sent on patrols, looking for the enemy landing site.

Amidst this chaos, Obi-Wan tried to formulate a plan. "This is going to be very bloody," he announced to the base's commander, "we're going to lose a lot of men in this battle."

"We do not fear death," replied the clone, blandly. "It's not part of our genetic structure."

"You may be willing to die, Commander, but I am loath to order this defense, this last stand. Many troopers will die. You may be a clone, yes, but does that make you any less of a person?"

The clone stirred, clearly a little uncomfortable with this soul searching. "I'm a soldier, General, not a philosopher. I was bred to fight, and fighting is what I do best."

Obi-Wan nodded. He wasn't going to get much conversation out of a clone trooper. As the man had said, he was designed for fighting and killing and little more. Still, he was uncomfortable with the idea of this heroic defense. Even if the clones were willing to die in the name of the Republic, did that make his orders – the orders that would send them to their graves – more acceptable?

The Jedi looked at the dirty skies far overhead, seemed to peer through the smog, and saw the forms of Dooku and Grievous overhead. This was the Republic's chance, their opportunity to capture – kill, if need be – the two most influential leaders of the Confederacy. Yes, many men would die here today – but if Dooku and Grievous were allowed to escape, even more would be slaughtered, and not just soldiers – innocents too. This slaughter was a necessary evil, but still Obi-Wan found no solace.

*        *        *

Through the noxious haze came dark, skeletal shadows, which resolved themselves into the tan frames of Separatist battle droids. Line after line of the destructive automatons marched toward Duro Outpost, backed up by trowel-shaped assault tanks and four-legged spider droids, in total outnumbering the Republic defenders by at least five to one.

Ordinarily, the regiment of clone troopers stationed in the furthermost trench would have opened fire on the invaders long ago, but General Kenobi had come up with a different plan for this operation. The toxic atmosphere of the wasteland planet Duro hampered the sensitive battle droid photoreceptors, reducing visibility to only a few meters. Because of this, the clones in the trench were simply able to crouch down, and thus appear invisible. Oblivious of the trench's existence, the droid army simply marched forth – until the forward line tumbled unceremoniously into the muddy trough. Surprised by this, the droid ranks halted, their tiny processors struggling to decide their next move, while the clone soldiers leapt up and began tearing down the startled droids, a thick hail of bright blue laser fire plummeting into the droid lines.

Then the return fire came, and the massacre began.

*        *        *

Wearing a jet black helmet to protect himself from Duro's corrosive atmosphere, Anakin Skywalker rushed to join the troops in the front line. The droid army had already passed over the first trench, and the next squad of defenders were close to being driven back. Anakin dived over the deep trench, using his lightsaber to turn away incoming laser blasts, protecting the clones, until through the corner of his eye he spotted about twenty droids moving towards his left flank. Turning a little to keep them in check, Anakin realised that whilst this division preoccupied him and his deadly lightsaber, the AAT tanks were moving in to finish off the defending clones. With a cry of rage, Anakin lunged forwards, cleaving three droids with a single stroke of his weapon, using his energy and momentum to launch a startlingly quick offensive on the flanking droids. Constantly spinning and flipping, he tore through the droids in a matter of seconds. Breathing heavily, he summoned the power that his frenzy afforded him and unleashed a blast of energy at the marauding AAT tank. The vehicle rocked sideways, almost keeling over, before slamming back into the ground, incapacitated.

The clones clambered out of the trench, driving forward at the AAT-sized gap in the droid formation, splitting the droid army and rounding up the survivors. The unit commander ran over to Anakin and gave the Lieutenant a nod. "Thanks for the assistance, sir. We were close to being overrun."

"What is the status of the battle?"

"The droid army is attacking in the separate arms – a small strike at each flank, and a main, head-on strike. Thanks to you we've taken out the right flanking force, but our left flank is being overrun…"

"Take your men, sergeant, go and reinforce the left flank."

"General Kenobi's orders are for us to stay here and guard against any further…"

"Sergeant, I gave you an order! Go and reinforce the flank!"

"With all due respect, Lieutenant Skywalker, the General outranks you…"

"Reinforce the left flank!" screamed Skywalker, drawing from his rage, using the Force to enter the clone's mind and burn the command into his very mind. The power, the absolute control he had…seething, Anakin filtered through the pathetic beings petty thoughts, his experiences, his memories. But as Anakin's temper calmed, his grip on the sergeant faltered. Both men stood, dazed.

"We'll go and reinforce the flank immediately!" said the clone at last, stumbling across the thought Anakin had implanted.

"Good," was all Anakin managed to say, before he fainted on the ground.

*        *        *

While the trenches were hampering the smaller flanking units, no amount of fancy spadework and glorified potholes was going to slow down the colossal main attack force, so Obi-Wan had chosen to engage them in full force. Clad in clone trooper armour, so as to protect himself from the toxic surroundings, General Kenobi stood atop a turtle-like AT-TE walker as the beast lumbered into battle. Friendly starfighters made low strafing runs on the droid army from overhead, but a storm was crackling in the upper clouds, restricting the effectiveness of the usually nimble V-19s.

"Keep a solid front line," commanded Obi-Wan through the helmet comlink, "as long as we don't let any droids through we should be able to hold out for another hour!" Checking his chrono, Obi-Wan saw that there was in fact only forty-five minute remaining. Forty five minutes not to get slaughtered.

"Watch out," called Obi-Wan, "AAT tanks moving in!"

"They outrange anything we've got, General," reported one of the clone troopers, "we can't hit them without sending forces forward!"

"Yet if we move to attack, we'll break our lines," mused Kenobi. "Can the fighter squadrons hit the tanks?"

"Negative, General. The atmosphere is too unstable. We're going to have to come to ground."

Obi-Wan sighed, caught in the enemy commander's trap. "Well we can't just sit here and let those tanks bombard us to death. Move two squads to disable the tanks, but don't leave the lines open." Staring at his tactical map, Obi-Wan shuddered. "I have a bad feeling about this."

*        *        *

"The tactic is working," observed Dooku, "we've forced General Kenobi's hand. He's opening his lines! Full attack!"

"I'm more concerned about that state of our right flank," grumbled Grievous, "One unit has turned the tide of that battle!"

Dooku looked at the battle map, and concentrated, listening to the Force. Surprisingly, he smiled. "Ah, yes, young Skywalker. My master tells me that his skills are unparalleled by any Jedi in the order."

Grievous nodded. He had seen Skywalker in action before, and had great respect for the boy. "He would be a worthy kill, Count."

"Indeed, but no mere droid can destroy the Chosen One…we'll have to engage him personally."

"I can do that," nodded Grievous, flexing his four arms. It had been too long since he'd killed a Jedi.

*        *        *

Anakin awoke to a nightmare.

The Solar Sailor, personal transport of Count Dooku, was plunging through the rolling clouds, cutting through the turbulent atmosphere, and landing beside him. Leaping up, Anakin peered through the visor on his mask to see not Dooku, but General Grievous emerge from the sculptured craft.

"Grievous!" he spat, igniting his lightsaber. The enemy General just laughed, and drew a single blade. The pair circled each other for a heartbeat, and Anakin edged closer, pointing his saber at the General's neck. "I'm going to kill you, Grievous. I am going to tear your head from your vile robotic neck, and mount it on a spike for all to see!" Once again, Grievous simply laughed.

"Don't mock me!" screamed Anakin, and lunged for an attack. Grievous parried the strike with ease, pushed Skywalker's blade away, and brought his arm round in a sweeping loop, forcing Anakin to retreat. As the General pressed forth, Anakin felt sweat trickling down his face as he moved to intercept each of the lightning thrusts, desperately looking for an opportunity to turn the tide and make an attack. He soon got his chance, locking sabers with the General and using the pause to make a mighty kick at Grievous' face. In reply, the General simply drew a second weapon and spun the two lightsabers above his head before making a blinding chain of strikes, his dual weapons threatening to overwhelm Anakin and his single saber.

And was that Dooku exiting the Sailor?

*        *        *

"Well, this is a mess!" called Obi-Wan, hoarsely, his voice sore from exposure to the putrid atmosphere. His helmet lay on the floor, trampled and smashed beyond recognition, as more and more droids streamed through the break in the lines. Exhaustion plagued every muscle in Kenobi's body as he made mighty swings at passing droids. Only by drawing deeply into the Force was he able to keep from passing out.

"General, enemy units approaching from the left flank!" called the clone commander, marooned in a sea of battle droids. "Standard attack formation!"

Obi-Wan thought about his next move. The Separatists are hoping to catch us between two separate forces. We're overwhelmed as it is. We've no chance. In Kenobi's mind, the mark of a good tactician was knowing just when to pull out. With some hesitation, he sounded the retreat. "All men pull back," he yelled through his comlink, "pull back into the facility. We'll have to stage a point blank defense."

As the clones turned tail and ran, Obi-Wan stood firm, using his weapon and the Force to cover the clones as they escaped. This battle is becoming more and more desperate by the minute, he realised, and the prefab base won't last long against the Confederacy tanks. The next fifteen minutes would seem like a lifetime.

With most of the clone army behind him, beginning to fortify the command centre, Obi-Wan prepared for his own retreat. As he was about to turn around, an AAT appeared in front of him, ploughing towards the stranded Jedi. Stuck in place by sheer terror, Obi-Wan mustered strength from the Force and leapt over the tank, somersaulting, and landed behind it, amidst an ocean of attack droids. Stumbling as he hit the ground, Obi-Wan used the momentum of his tumble to carry him into the droid formation, his flashing blade cleaving droids into malfunctioning scrap. But he was still off-balanced from his poor landing, and dropped to the ground, falling hard, winding himself.

Up again in an instant, Obi-Wan fought the urge to take a deep breath, knowing that the Duro stink would more than likely knock him out, and raced towards the tank. I can't let this thing reach the base before the shields are raised – and I'm the only one with the access codes! Struggling through a line of droids, Obi-Wan managed to get under the tank, force open the craft's hatchway with his lightsaber, and clamber into the vehicle. Both hands on the controls, he turned the tank around in a tight circle, ploughing through the droid ranks, and locked the steering column. Leaping out and charging to the clone base, he sensed the captured vehicle careen through the droid formation, causing widespread destruction and confusion.

But the battle was far from over.

*        *        *

Aboard the Republic cruiser Canderassi, General Mace Windu slung his cape over his neck and wrapped the coarse material around his muscular body. Made from a special blast-resistant material, the cape would protect from light blaster bolts and glancing shots, while allowing complete freedom of movement.

"How long until we arrive in the Duro system?" he shouted across the stark hangar. Normally, the large docking bay would be bustling with gunships reading for launch and flight crews, but with reports of a storm General Windu had decide to send down only one transport: a sleek capsule that would enter Duro atmosphere, and unload it's cargo: one fighter tank, Mace Windu's personal vehicle, and forty clone troopers. Meanwhile, the twelve cruisers in the fleet, led by the Canderassi, would engage the Confederacy space force. This would be the critical battle: if Grievous and Dooku were commanding the battle from orbit, they would be killed, and if as Windu suspected they had gone down to the planet, they would be stranded.

"Fifteen minutes!" called the crewman. Come on, General Kenobi, fifteen minutes more to hold out. You can do it!

*        *        *

Donning a fresh helmet, Obi-Wan checked the fuel regulator on his speeder bike and straddled onto the nimble swoop, revving up the engines in anticipation.

"General Kenobi, what are our orders?"

"Defend the station at all costs," he said quickly, eager to be away and look for his apprentice. Upon returning to the station, he had not been able to find Anakin anywhere, and the Force told him that the boy was in grave danger. "In fifteen minutes time General Windu will be arriving, and General Koon not long after that. Contact them when they arrive, brief them on the situation."

"Yes General. Good luck."

And then Obi-Wan was away, tearing over the barren landscape, the helmet's filter view scanning for any heat sources.

It spotted two and a half. Anakin, Dooku, and Grievous, guessed Obi-Wan, gunning the swoop's engines and speeding towards his lost apprentice.

*        *        *

"You escaped me on Geonosis, boy," proclaimed Dooku, advancing towards Anakin, "but this time you will not be so lucky." From his fingertips shot a burst of lightning, but Anakin was quick; he caught the blast with his sword and deflected it away. Dooku grinned. "I see you have become far more powerful than we last met. But let me tell you something: so have I!" And with that, the Sith warrior dove towards Anakin, viciously slashing his lightsaber at the Jedi. Caught off guard, Anakin's parry was weak, and Dooku made the most of this sloppy swordsmanship, pressing his attack ruthlessly. "I expected more, Jedi. It seems you are not as powerful as my master thought."

"I'm more powerful than you can possibly imagine!" cried Anakin, and he reached out with the Force, using the same technique he had used on the clone trooper earlier to reach into Dooku's mind. But the old man blocked this mental strike with ease, and responded by clenching his fist. Anakin grasped at his collar, struggling to breathe.

"You are nothing before the Dark Side!" goaded Dooku, as Grievous watched on, lightsabers poised to defend the Count if Anakin somehow escaped his master's grasp. "Always remember that the only true power is that of the darkness!"

Releasing Anakin, Dooku stepped over the boy's fallen body and rose his curved lightsaber high. "And so it ends, my boy."

Anakin caught sight of something approaching from the east, and sneered. "Not today, Dooku!" Without warning, Obi-Wan Kenobi leapt from his speeder bike and landed beside Dooku, making a swing at the former Jedi without hesitation. Caught unawares, Dooku only just managed to parry, and soon found himself in a similar position to Anakin only moments earlier, driven back due to a poor move. But Dooku was far more resourceful than the boy, and soon got back into the fight, manoeuvring Kenobi towards Grievous, who had readied two sabers for the killing blow. The Jedi Knight seemed not to notice Grievous standing behind him, but ducked as the cyborg swung a mighty blow, rolling through the robot's legs and striking the General from behind.

Like a flash Grievous had brought a third arm up to parry Obi-Wan's blow, and the Jedi struggled to keep up with the intensity of Grievous' triple assault. "Padawan!" he called, "Anakin! I can't take him alone! I need you!"

Groaning with pain, Anakin nonetheless rose to fight, blustering towards Grievous with a war cry. Keeping Obi-Wan trapped between two sabers, he extended the third towards Anakin, catching the youngsters blow. As Obi-Wan darted between two blades, Anakin sparred with Grievous' third weapon, ever wary of the dark shadow of Dooku, who seemed to be watching, waiting for a moment to pounce.

"Master!" Anakin cried, seeing Obi-Wan struggle to counter a pummelling blow. If only I could get around and help him! But Grievous' lightsaber kept him at bay, jousting towards him as if fencing.

Can't go through, go over instead! Anakin leapt high, flipping over Grievous' head, but the General jumped to meet him, both warriors duelling in mid air. At least this is giving Master Obi-Wan a break!

Anakin was incorrect in that assumption. As he and Grievous fell back to the planet's inhospitable surface, Dooku had rounded on Obi-Wan. "Come now, Master Kenobi!" he taunted. "Can you not best a frail old man?" As if deliberately contradicting himself, Dooku whirled into action, his archaic duelling style fairly matched against Obi-Wan's defensive stance. Grievous landed beside him, throwing up a cloud of dust, and without breaking a step Obi-Wan smoothly transferred his lightsaber into his left hand and struck outwards, taking one of Grievous' robotic arms. Whilst this evened up the odds a little, it also left Obi-Wan exposed to Dooku's next strike, and the Jedi threw himself to the floor, rolling under Dooku's swing.

*        *        *

Operating the large turret that sat atop Duro Station, clone trooper CT6/239 peered through the rangefinder, trying to make out the best targets amidst the swarm of droids assaulting the base. He spotted an exposed AAT, locked it into the targeting computer, and fired a fully charged blast at the tank. The craft exploded in a ball of destructive fire, taking with it several droids. But that didn't slow down the advance one bit.

Beside CT6/239 sat his counterpart unit, CT7/239. CT7 was tasked with covering CT6 from enemy sniper fire, but in this particular operating he took a different approach to protecting the gunner. Hanging over one of the high rails on the station roof, he sliced broad swathes into the droid formation with his repeating laser cannon, cutting down the automatons as they reached the walls of the base. But there were too many droids to blast them all, and as the thought passed through CT7's mind a ringing shot from one of the tanks sailed past him, striking the turbolaser emplacement full on. Thrown over the railings by the ensuing explosion, CT7 plummeted to his death.

And yet the droids marched on.

*        *        *

"General Windu, we've arrived in the system!"

"Good. Any news from the planet?"

The image of a single clone trooper resolved on the holoprojector. "General," he reported, "we've been driven back to the base, but things aren't looking good. We've just lost our main turbolaser emplacement, and the droids have almost breached the walls."

"Yes. And where is Master Kenobi?"

"Looking for his Padawan, General. He left fifteen minutes ago. Our scanners have since noted a small skirmish to the right of the base, but we've been too busy to…"

Mace reached into the Force. "Anakin. Obi-Wan. Grievous. Dooku." It was time to act. "Listen, commander, I can supply forty clones to help you hold out a little longer. Once the storm breaks, I'll have my men send down an invasion force to assist you. Just hold out a little while longer. This battle isn't over for the Republic yet."

Cutting communications, he dashed to the launch pod. Anakin and Obi-Wan were going to need all the help they could get if they were to best the two strongest warriors of the Confederacy.

As the Republic cruisers moved to engage the battleships, a sleek black transport slipped towards the planet.

*        *        *

"Alright troops," explained General Windu, "here's the plan. In a few minutes I'm going to be leaving the pod, but the rest of you will remain on board. I've instructed the pilot to crash the ship into the centre of the droid army, so fasten your restraints. The ship will probably go up a minute or so after landing, so get out of here quickly. Your job will be to disrupt the droid army's advance. Any questions?"

Naturally, there were none. After all, the clone troopers of Kamino were genetically incapable of questioning their superiors.

*        *        *

The dark form drifting overhead was too fast and too black to be a cloud, but that was the only explanation Anakin could find for it.

Until General Windu dropped from its underbelly, electrum lightsaber burning, a bright amethyst flame.

Plummeting like a stone, Windu dropped his foot into Grievous' face hard, sending the General falling to the floor. With blinding speed and power Mace drove Grievous back, his one lightsaber more than a match for Grievous' three. Leaving the General stunned with a light blow to the shoulder, Mace turned on Dooku, leaving Anakin and Obi-Wan to deal with Grievous.

*        *        *

Plo Koon's fleet entered the battle from above, the five cruisers spearing into the heart of the Separatist formation. Targeting the bulbous cores of the enemy battleships, the Republic armada was able to inflict heavy damage to the Confederacy warships, destroying two and leaving the rest in very bad shape.

Aboard the bridge of the Violator, Kneb Knor studied the battle maps with increasing trepidation. General Windu's starfleet had them pinned down, and General Koon's armada was striking at will, tearing the Confederacy ships to pieces.

"Call a full retreat," stuttered Kneb Knor, "we can't hold out against the Republic fleet!"

"But we'll lose Duro!" cried the Neimodian bridge officer. "All this planning…months of it…dozens of systems sacrificed to prepare for this assault…for nothing!"

"Unless we leave now, then we will die at Duro. Of that I have no doubt. We are needed elsewhere, officer. There are thousands of contested systems all across the galaxy, and we are needed there!"

One by one, the tattered cruisers shot into hyperspace, leaving the victorious Republic fleet alone in orbit around the planet.

*        *        *

"Jedi Kenobi," spat Grievous, "you have thwarted our efforts countless times before. But today, you fall."

Spinning his three lightsabers in a blinding vortex, Grievous leapt towards Obi-Wan. In a motion too fast to follow, even for Grievous' cybernetically enhanced vision, Obi-Wan blocked one lightsaber, twisted under another and dived over the last one. Now it was Grievous' turn to dodge, as Kenobi let loose a fierce backhand stroke.

Making the most of his escape, Grievous grabbed the charging Anakin with his razor-sharp talons, and slammed the youngster into Duro's rocky surface. Moaning, Anakin sent a jolt of electricity running through the General's leg, leaving Grievous' electronic systems trying to recover from the ion burst.

His normally adroit reflexes made sluggish by the electric burst, Grievous did his best to counter Obi-Wan's rushing attack, but found himself driven backwards, away from Dooku and Master Windu.

That duel was more evenly matched, Dooku of course having no vital systems to disrupt. In fact, the Force itself seemed to be absent from the bout, neither Dooku or Mace using any Force strikes or leaps, although in reality both were drawing heavily from the Force to replenish their energy.

Dooku had underestimated his former master at Geonosis, and he had learnt well from this mistake. During his time as a Jedi, Dooku had held a deep respect for Mace Windu, and often sparred with him. Windu's confident saber technique was a far cry from Dooku's more distanced stance, but the two styles were perfectly matched in the duel. With Dooku holding his saber at arm's length, almost an extension of his arm, none of Windu's heavy strikes could make contact with Dooku. But likewise, Dooku's light thrusts were easily turned aside by Windu's strong parries.

Both men were too experienced to be fooled by touches such as feints and swift changes of direction, and both men knew this, so no energy was wasted executing such moves. The duel was no less than a test of skill, both warriors waiting for the inevitable mistake. One moment Mace had the upper hand, driving Dooku back a few steps, but the next the Sith had regained it, forcing Mace backwards. The duel could go on for hours.

Switching to one hand, Mace beat his blade from side to side, trying to loosen Dooku's grip, before making a hard overhead slash. Dooku's blade rose to intercept, catching the blow perfectly, throwing Mace off guard and giving the Count a shot at victory. Dooku made all the right moves, with perfect timing, and a lesser foe would have been killed on the spot. But Windu recovered almost instantly, and by the time Dooku had brought his saber around for the killing slash the Jedi Master was back in action.

Both duellists began to pin their hopes on the outcome of the other battle. If Obi-Wan and Anakin could defeat the General, Mace would win. But if Grievous joined Dooku, Mace would lose.

Nevertheless, the fight continued.

*        *        *

Even with a huge chunk of the droid army missing, decimated by the reinforcements and their kamikaze run, the clone troopers were still being overrun. Most of the clone trooper reinforcements were now dead, with only three left, struggling to reach the fortress, and unless Republic capitalised on the swath cut into the droid formation, and quickly, their sacrifice would all be for nothing

"Commander," called a green-trimmed Lieutenant, monitoring one of the many battle computers, "the skies are clearing. The storm appears to be over."

"Message from the Canderassi," called another Lieutenant, this one a communications officer. "Commander, reinforcements on their way!"

"Good," nodded the commander, his genetic coding not allowing him to feel any euphoria at this latest development. "Move the troops forward."

*        *        *

A grin spread over Obi-Wan's face as he continued to drive Grievous backwards, knocking the droid general about like a rag doll, overwhelming his sluggish defences.

This grin turned to an expression of dismay as Grievous' systems came back online, and Obi-Wan's lightsaber was wrenched from his grasp by a lightning strike. "Anakin!" called the Jedi as he dove backwards, narrowly avoiding a lightsaber to the face. As Skywalker leapt towards Grievous, the General's torso began to spin wildly, and Anakin felt his robotic wrist shatter as his saber jarred against the whirlpool of energy. Resigned to using his off hand, Anakin tried his best to put up a fight against the whirling General, spotting his master running in from the side. Grievous launched a mighty kick at the charging Obi-Wan, knocking him back several meters, before slowing his centrifuge attack and striking at Anakin with a powerful strike. The young Padawan almost failed to meet it.

Obi-Wan was back again. "Don't you Jedi ever learn?" laughed Grievous derisively, dropping a saber and catching it with his foot. Stood on a single leg, Grievous engaged Anakin with two sabers, whilst holding Obi-Wan off with the saber grasped in his outstretched foot.

*        *        *

"General, the Confederacy fleet are retreating!"

Plo Koon considered giving chase and thought better of it. "Show me the coordinates of the Violator," he asked, and saw that the command cruiser was furthest forward of the Confederacy fleet – meaning it would be the last to escape.

"Everything tells me Dooku and Grievous are planetside," reasoned Koon, "but we had best be sure. Bring all ships to bear on the Violator."

*        *        *

"The fleet is away, Captain," called the Neimodian bridge officer, "and I suggest we leave too!"

"We are leaving!" cried Kneb Knor, "just very slowly!"

The Neimodian was shaking violently, staring out of the viewport, toward the safety of a faraway galaxy. Maybe a nice estate on Bespin, or a resort on Zeltros. At this moment in time, stuck in the middle of a huge enemy fleet in a damaged cruiser, he would even settle for a hovel on Tatooine. "It would help if we had more than one engine…"

"I'm sure it would!" muttered Kneb Knor, sick of the cowardly Neimodian's constant whining. If they fear pain and death so much, then why did they start a war? Noticing a movement of enemy ships on the battle monitor, Kneb Knor charged across to the viewport. "I have a bad feeling about this," he said as the Republic fleet moved towards the Violator. His bad feeling stayed with him until his final, fiery death.

*        *        *

Two Acclamator cruisers had made it down into the atmosphere, their thick underside armour plating just soaking up laser damage. One cruiser unloaded its troops and tanks at the rear of the droid army, and the second took a more direct approach – simply parking their ship atop a legion of battle droids. Rocket thrusters burnt away at the spindly droids, and the clone troopers disembarked onto a droid scrap yard.

The original clone force, previously holed up in Duro base, had now come out, charging relentlessly at the droid forces. Trapped between two incoming armies, with a huge Acclamator in their midst, firing away with its colossal turbolasers, the Separatist army was swiftly defeated.

*        *        *

One battle that would not be so easily won was the duel. Grievous often stamped his robotic claws into the dirty rock that made up Duro's surface, sending up a dust cloud and blinding his foes, but still the Jedi held out. "You are worthy foes," admitted Grievous, "but I take comfort in the fact that I shall eventually destroy you!"

"Don't be so sure," grunted Obi-Wan, leaping towards Grievous with a mighty slash. Anakin, you know what to do! Obi-Wan made a series of lunging strikes, deliberately overstretching, committing himself.

"You fight well," commended the General, catching each of Obi-Wan's attacks on his blade, "but know this before you die. You commit yourself too early and easily." With Obi-Wan's lunges leaving him open, Grievous reared for the killing strike. Hurry up, Padawan!

"Know this before you die," yelled Anakin, "you should never leave a Jedi unwatched!" With a cry he drove his saber into Grievous' back, splintering the General's spine and dropping him to the floor with a thud. Standing over the General, Anakin lifted his saber and yelled, "And now it ends, General!"

Grievous rolled onto his back and brought up a saber to deflect Anakin's blow. "You are strong, young one, and I can now understand my Master's interest in you. Soon this Galaxy will change, boy, and my final lesson to you is this: do not fight the change. Do not try to forestall the inevitable. You must simply embrace it."

Anakin hesitated, puzzled by these words. Was Grievous trying to recruit him? The next sensation he felt was a sharp warmth across his cheek as Grievous' razor claws raked his face, the wounded General sprinting towards the Solar Sailor.

"Anakin!" cried Obi-Wan, "you had the chance to finish this war!"

"I'm sorry, Master. I just…I hesitated, and he seized the chance."

"What did he say to you?"

"Nothing, Master. Now let's rejoin Master Windu." Anakin didn't want to talk about Grievous' little speech. He didn't know why, but the more he thought about the General's parting words, the more they made sense. And that scared him.

*        *        *

His wounded chest sagging, Grievous pounded across the surface of Duro, propelled by his high-powered robotic legs. He knew the Jedi were probably giving chase, but he didn't care. There was no way they'd match his speed, not even with the Force.

With the Sailor in range he accessed his internal computer to check how the battle was going. He was enraged too see that the ground forces had been decimated, and only one ship remained in orbit, his flagship. Why isn't Kneb Knor running? he fumed, that whelp will cost me my cruiser!

He arrived at the Solar Sailor only to see Mace Windu engaged in mortal combat with the Count. Dooku's eyes flared, thinking that Grievous had dispatched the two Jedi, but then he saw the horrific gash across the General's midsection.

"The battle is lost!" called Grievous, "Only the Violator remains, but it is about to be destroyed."

Mace gave Dooku a meaningful stare. "In just a few minutes you'll have half the Republic fleet on top of you."

Dooku's eyes darkened. "No doubt," he acknowledged. "Let us flee, General."

Grievous charged in towards Mace, but Skywalker had done some serious damage to the General, and Windu easily lopped off another of Grievous' arms. But this left him open to Dooku's simple stab, and Mace felt his breath leave him, and keeled over, hitting the floor hard.

"Is he dead?" asked Grievous, regarding Windu's fallen body with some suspicion.

"I doubt it," acknowledged Dooku, "but we must leave. Unless we take advantage of the Violator's destruction…"

"Yes," nodded Grievous. "Skywalker and his master are not far behind."

The two boarded the Sailor, and the graceful ship sliced through the Duro atmosphere, vile as ever.

Far below, Mace Windu stirred, clutching the side of his torso. A putrid lightsaber burn festered there, but thankfully no internal damage had been done. Lifting himself up, Windu watched the Sailor leave Duro, a look of contemplation on his face.

"Another day, Master Dooku. Another day."