Author's Notes: I'm at university and I didn't deign to bring my Star Wars universe map with me, so my mind's a little short on planet names and even shorter on their locations. Sorry if my choice of systems in this chapter is unoriginal or if I chose systems too close to the Core. If I've used any of them before and you think it's not a good idea for me to use them again, or whatnot, then please email me with an alternative; I do edit these things all the time, whether you realise it or not.
Another point I'm gonna have to make is this (big breath): this story is not going to stretch over three years like the 'canon' Clone Wars do. This fanfic started off as a whim and continues to be just that. I think I sometimes forget, because I've been writing this for so long, that this is all just 'for fun'. I'm trying to do my best with the Clone Wars but, if you haven't already guessed, this story focuses more on the characters than the background information, and I hate writing war scenes unless I truly have to. Therefore I'm not going to drag these wars on forever. To do that, I'd have to stop the action in this story soon, then come back with a 'three years later' kinda chapter, or even split the story into two halves, which I don't want to do. I did once consider splitting this story into two, but the plot has since 'evolved' and now there's only going to be one major gap of a few months, if that, and that's not going to be yet. You can criticise my poor time-planning and whatnot in this fic all you like, but I'm trying not to take it all mega seriously - I need to remember to have fun with it. It should be my relief from work, not my extra work on top of my regular work, you know? The moment it stops being fun is the moment I have to stop, and I love this story too much to want to get into that position. I have really been finding it hard to keep this fic going lately because of the Clone Wars conundrum and the feedback from some of you guys agreeing that things are going too fast, but I just want to let you know that I'm doing what I feel is best for the story, and I'd rather keep it going on a less-than-believable, speeding gear than procrastinate over it for years and eventually continue it on an all-too-realistic one, you get me? Well done if you do, coz I've lost myself in that maze of words! Heh.
Okay, sorry for the speech: please enjoy!
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Eclipse
Part 33
As the Separatists burst forth on fronts all across the galaxy - centring in the Mid and Outer Rim - the Republic Army was again forced into combat, led - against the wishes of the majority of the Senate - by the Jedi Knights. The time for a routine course of 'battle after battle' was over - now, it seemed, many campaigns were to be simultaneously fought at once, for the good or ill of either side.
Taking to the fore as a general for the first time, Obi-Wan aspired to clear his mind of his troubles by being as active as he could in the war. He was to lead the army on the front at besieged Chandrilla, overrun by the Commerce Guild. Meanwhile, Master Windu was called out to Yavin, under threat from the Corporate Alliance, whilst Kit Fisto found himself on Mon Calamari, and yet more Jedi were sent into the treacherous districts of Munilist, Rodia and Corellia.
Anakin, for the time being, was on a freight ship bound for the Outer Rim. He knew not where - the Outer Rim was a large place - but he was certain that it would not matter. Palpatine would find him. He would.
---
Padmé had a growing knowledge of how to read Count Dooku. Or rather, how not to read him. As she sat by him once again in his Solar Sailor, she noticed he was smiling, and that, she knew, could mean one of a dozen different things; never could it be read as simple contentment.
"I don't like it when you smile like that," she pointed out flatly.
"You don't?"
"No."
"Ah. So, what would you have me do?"
She gave him a brief scowl, her eyes returning for a second to the blur of light speed before them; "I don't know… just not smile, perhaps."
He scoffed under his breath, shaking his head, but continued to smile.
"You're treading dangerously," Padmé warned him.
"Oh, and what will you do?"
"I'll think of something."
"I'm sure."
There was another pause.
She sighed and gave in, "What are you smiling about, then?"
He glanced at her, "You."
"Me?"
"Yes - you giving Gunray something you could have had, you letting him take governance of your own planet - an ironic thought if one thinks back to the events of a decade ago. Oh, I shall not soon forget the look on your face when I made you shake his hand back there."
She scowled; "I'll never forgive you for that."
He laughed properly this time, "No, I doubt Nute will, either."
She folded her arms and huffed, feeling awkward; "I feel guilty for not staying," she murmured.
"Then why didn't you?"
She looked at him again, "I've already told you."
"I know you have," he nodded, hand suddenly moving to a lever and gradually pulling it toward him, "But you don't seem so sure yourself."
She watched as the blur before her slowed to form a clear picture, stars dotting the black heavens and twinkling at her with innocent glee. There, amidst all this, was not the glorious planet of Alderaan, but a belt of gigantic asteroids.
"No," she resolved, giving Serenn a mistrustful glance, "I'm not."
---
Anakin gently kicked the walls as he lay back on a bunk in the freighter's dorms; "Why aren't I being tracked or ought?" he asked an idle guard, who was stood by, watching him, to his left, "I thought you guys would want to keep an eye on me?"
The young guard looked reticent to speak to the convicted criminal but, anyway, answered, "I'm unsure. I've heard that the Chancellor said it was against the rights of a sentient being to be tracked like that."
Anakin's lips pricked, "He said that, did he?"
"I've heard that he did, sir," the guard emphasised.
Anakin nodded slowly, laying back on the cot again, "He's a good man."
"He is indeed, sir."
"Do you think the Republic needs to change, though?"
"Of course. No offence to you, sir, but I think the Jedi are at fault."
"Aw, I take no offence. I'm glad I'm rid of them. They're a dying thing… the Republic doesn't need them any more."
"You really think so?"
"I know so."
The guard was still a little perturbed by this conversation - Anakin could tell by the way he held himself, his eyes forever glancing about, seeking the sight of one of his fellow soldiers, with whom he'd rather converse. He found none.
"Do you think the Army of the Republic does a better job than the Jedi?" Anakin pushed on, swinging his legs over the edge of the bunk and leaning toward the man.
"That has yet to be seen, in my opinion," the guard replied.
Anakin shrugged, "I think they're impressive."
"They are that, sir, but so, too, are the Jedi."
Anakin was amused by this soldier; "You're pretty intelligent, aren't you?"
"I like to think so, sir."
"I like you."
"Er… thank you, sir."
"What's your name?"
"Commander Piett, sir."
Anakin nodded, "I'll remember you. I swear."
Piett looked uncertain as to whether he should be pleased by this or not; he didn't have time to dwell on the matter, though. There was a terrific crash outside the craft, as though they'd been hit by something. The whole freighter lurched to one side and both Anakin and Piett met the far wall with a bang.
Sirens whined in the corridors above. Smoke billowed from a fissure in the floor. There was another loud explosion from overhead. Anakin didn't need anyone to tell him that, whatever had happened, this ship was going to blow in a matter of minutes.
He placed a hand on the commander's body and gave it a shake. He was unconscious. Anakin was about to shrug and leave him, but something made him stop and turn back. Staring at the man from the nearest doorway, he felt compelled to save him; good men were hard to find and - his mind told him - he would soon need to have many good men to depend on. Walking back to the young Piett, he hauled him over his shoulders, and walked out into the ship's passages, making his way to the very bowels of the vessel, where the escape pods would be.
There was confusion all around him. For the most part, terrified men were just running wildly around the halls, trying to save their own petty skins. This kind of cowardice did nothing for Anakin, and he would have sooner tripped them up as they passed than help them to escape. In fact, he did with a couple of them. He was surprised that no one seemed to care about him - after all, he was a convicted criminal in the eyes of the Republic - but, then again, who would take the time to care about the fate of a criminal when one's own life was at stake?
Anakin guessed there was nothing to complain about - their spinelessness would be his saviour.
He took his time as steam and smoke continued to fog his vision, slowly taking the steps descending into the escape pod bay. He rolled his commander friend out into one pod and cast it out into space; looking around him, he saw seven further unused escape pods.
A dark malice overcame him suddenly and, hearing men tearing down the stairs from above, he closed his eyes and commanded the Force to jettison them all but one. And into here, he leapt, leaving the ship and all the remaining crew to the will of the Force.
There was a dull thud in the ensuing minutes as the ship exploded and it sent seismic waves crashing into the edge of his pod. After a few moments of silence, where everything suddenly sank in and he wondered if he was even near enough a planet to be able to survive, he felt a further jolt wrestle his pod. Then, he was drawn up, into the darkness of another ship's hull.
His heart pounded. His first thought turned to pirates, who often pulled off tricks like this, sometimes even just to amuse themselves. The hatch opened before him and, tentatively, he climbed out. He saw the other pod next to him, open and revealing the unfortunate soldier he'd rescued. There were a few other pods, too, but their inhabitants seem not to have been fortunate enough to keep their lives; they lay dead on the floor.
Anakin swallowed, looking again to Piett to see if he was yet still alive. As he reached into the corresponding pod to check the man's pulse, though, he felt a waft of the Force course over him from behind. His very core turned cold, yet he wasn't afraid. Leaving Piett, he straightened up and slowly turned. And then he smiled and bowed.
---
Obi-Wan hung out from the deck of one of his Republic Battleships as they scoured the land of Chandrilla from the air. Lush, green fields and pasture land rolled out beneath them, with lakes and forests dotted her and there.
Kenobi's gaze tightened and he licked his lip; something was clearly not right.
"There's nothing here, sir," a Clone Trooper from behind said.
Obi-Wan glanced at him, "There is, captain. We just haven't found it yet."
"We've been searching for hours, sir."
"Yes, but the planet would not send out a cry for help if it truly wasn't overrun."
"Scanners pick up nothing."
"Then we must think of why that is."
"We've scoured the grounds as far as we can."
Obi sighed and, suddenly, a thought occurred to him; "But the air…?" he whispered.
As though on cue, a shadow overcast the platoon. Kenobi's eyes turned right just in time to see the first of his Cruisers go down with a bang, hit from above. Rather than waste his breath on cursing, he simply looked up and, through the clouds, could just make out the form of some monstrous vessel, a huge, monolithic tower of metal, sailing above them through the air.
"What the--?" the Clone captain gasped before, returning immediately to the task at hand, he turned about and rallied his troops.
Obi-Wan shook his head - there was no cuss in any language he knew big enough for this monster that opposed them. Damn the Commerce Guild.
"What are your orders, sir?" the captain queried.
"Deploy the fleet - we've got to break up - and send some one-man fighters up there to see what we're dealing with. It looks like we've got an aerial assault on out hands."
"Yes, sir."
---
Piett was no stranger to strange things, nor was he unused to misfortune - it seemed to follow him around like a bad smell - and even his mother had noted, as some mothers do, that he was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was no surprise that she'd been quite happy to see her little boy off to 'some military school' that 'might make him into something useful'. Whether an auxiliary soldier working in the unheard of sections of the Republic was something useful was another thing altogether, but that was beside the point.
Blinking, the unfortunate youth looked about himself, completely and utterly bewildered. There was nothing but fields before him, yellow fields that reached as far as his eye could see, shining vibrantly in the light of the equally yellow sun.
Trying to piece the puzzle back together, he turned to find himself face-to-face with some herbivorous quadruped. He yelped in shock, though the animal - the only one, it seemed, for miles about, too - was untroubled itself.
After taking a few breaths to calm himself, and realising that this shaak-like beast was more interested in the grass it was constantly chewing than anything else, he tried to do some serious thinking. He looked to the blue sky and drew his cap from his head, sighing, "Where am I?" to the galaxy at large. He was unable to remember anything except being in the Republic Freighter and talking to that peculiar young man, before he received a large knock on the head.
The cow-like thing continued to chew, placidly swishing about its tail.
Piett looked around himself once more. There was absolutely no sign of any ship wreckage, nor any sign of anyone else, or anything else (except the alien cow). He was alone, all alone. It looked like he'd just been dumped here.
"Well that's just wonderful," he sarcastically sighed, making himself comfortable on a grassy knoll and drawing his knees up beneath his chin. He wasn't sure how he'd explain this one to mother. If he ever found his way off this planet. Wherever he was.
---
It wasn't more than a day later when Adi Gallia was to be found rushing through the halls of the Jedi Temple like there was no tomorrow. (Occasionally, it truly did look as though there would be no tomorrow, as the state of things currently sat.) She hurried up the stairs and then zipped straight into a lift that would lead her to the top of the High Council chamber.
Finally, as the doors of the elevator slid open, she careered down the last passageway before, turning into the chamber, she skidded to a halt behind Master Yoda. The small Jedi Knight was stood staring out across Corsucant and - unable not to hear Adi's entrance - he slowly turned to face her; "Master Gallia," he nodded, "Urgent news you bring?"
"Yes, my Master," she panted, approaching the diminutive Jedi and kneeling before him, more in a way of respect, but also to help her recover from her sprint, "We have just… received word from the… the Republic… outpost, just beyond…"
"Calm yourself," Yoda soothed her, giving her a moment longer to recuperate.
Adi took several deep breaths and, once she felt she could string more then five words together without stopping, she began again; "We've just received word from the outpost, close to Malastare… The freighter Anakin was aboard was ambushed. It was completely destroyed! Only one survived!"
Yoda seemed, for once, taken aback; very little surprised him these days, but this had come as a shock. He sighed, shaking his head.
"Master Yoda," Adi went on, "It wasn't Anakin who survived…"
Yoda closed his eyes, still remaining silent.
"We knew this might happen - it had to be the Separatists! They plotted this all along!" She shook her head, "I can't believe he's… that he's gone. He was the Chosen One! What have we done? Oh, Master Yoda, what have we done?"
"Dead he is not," Yoda swiftly replied, "Only gone has he."
"But Master Yoda," Adi wheezed, "None survived but a low-level commander, picked up on Dantooine! How can he -?"
"Know of the Chosen One's death, I would," Yoda further insisted, "Not dead is he."
Gallia looked completely confused, "Then what's going on, Master? Where is he?"
Yoda began to pace away, his tiny cane tapping its way across the floor; "All planned, this was, but by whom and what, much harder to answer, it is. Just believe Anakin lives, I do."
Adi shook her head, unable to tap into the Force as extensively as Yoda could. He left her utterly in awe; "I really don't understand, Master Yoda."
"Meant to understand, we are not," Yoda sighed, "The Sith Master's desire, this is. Again has he evaded us. Again has he won the battle."
"Then where is Anakin? The entire Republic will believe he's dead - they won't take our word for it!"
"Know this, I do." And what Yoda left unsaid was, 'Know this, the Sith Master does'.
"Then what shall we tell the Republic?" Adi went on.
Yoda shook his head, "Nothing for us to tell them, there is. Better for us, their ignorance may be."
Adi sighed, nodding slowly and getting back to her feet, her bright eyes dull and her posture dejected; "As you say, Master Yoda," she nodded, and slowly paced away.
Yoda shook his head once again; the times were so dark, the Force so clouded, and he could do little to inspire hope in his underlings. What had happened out in the cosmos was the undertaking of the Sith, he had no doubt, and he was positive that Anakin lived still. Yet this fact disturbed him much more than anything else, for it only meant trouble in his eyes. There was still time to remedy these events, but that time was growing less, and the opportunity had almost disappeared. He feared that the first stage of the game between the Jedi and the Sith was almost over - and the Jedi were not to be the victors.
---
"This doesn't strike me as Alderaan."
"I've said it before and I shall say it again - your powers of observation are astounding, my lady."
Padmé stepped out of the solar sailor onto the rocky surface of some unknown world. Large, metallic towers loomed on the horizon and a belt of asteroids filled the star-ridden sky.
"Where are we?" she asked, looking around her with unease, feeling suddenly cut off from the galaxy and civilisation.
"I have a friend to engage here. He has been waiting long for my call," Serenn replied, following her out the craft and leading the way ahead.
Padmé could see that they had entered some kind of gravitational field for, all around them, small rocks floated off the ground, bouncing against some invisible shield away from the landing platform. There was a whining sound in the distance, one that grew ever stronger until, in a shallow gorge, not far away, Padmé saw what she recognised as pod racers tear by; and she knew then that this was no Republican world, if it be a 'world' at all.
"Where are we?" she repeated, holding her ground and glaring at the back of the count.
He turned and gave her a brief glance, "The Asteroid Oovo IX," he replied.
She blinked, "Where?"
"Exactly."
He continued on his way and she was forced to follow, more bewildered than ever. They seemed to be heading for a small civilisation in the distance, a mere cluster of bland, faceless buildings, made of metal and permacrete. It looked eerie.
The barren terrain crunched beneath their feet as they went, and it wasn't long before they reached the settlement and climbed a flight of grey, stone steps into a large, plain tower-like structure. Once they crossed the threshold, Padmé had to blink, for they were in a tall, narrow hallway, lit with bright, clinical lighting. It was cold and silent in here, and the walls were covered in nothing but panels of white. There were no doors and no decoration.
"What kind of person lives in a place like this?" she muttered, half to herself, half to Dooku.
"You shall see," Serenn said from in front, "You shall soon see."
Padmé wasn't comforted by that thought. They eventually emerged from the lengthy hallway and entered into another corridor, but this one was tunnel-like and transparent, the outside world free to view from within. Strange electrical currents of a purple hue surged along its upper surface, looking something akin to the open power couplings in the industrial district of Coruscant, and below, one could only see a deep, dark drop into a bottomless cavern.
This corridor led into another grey, cold hall, and finally, they took a left turn and entered a small antechamber. Serenn turned to Padmé and gestured at a block at the edge of the otherwise empty room; "Take a seat," he said.
She countered with a brief scowl, but did as was told, and watched as the Count swept out of the room into the further chamber beyond. For several long and agonising minutes she sat alone in this void, her mind playing tricks on her, and her ears straining to pick up the slightest sound. She was so much on alert that the smallest noise made her jump and made her loathe to see the horror that Serenn had gone to find behind the door.
Finally, when Padmé was beginning to feel that she might drown in the flood of her own insecurities, the door opened, and Dooku stalked back through. He turned to Padmé, a sombre look on his face, and then, out from behind him, a creature just as tall, yet much more frightening, marched out and stood erect to his side.
Padmé involuntarily staggered to her feet, hugging the wall behind as this 'thing' set its eyes on her. Its yellow, reptilian pupils glared right through her and shook her to the core. This creature was the most dreadful thing she had ever seen, worse than any monster her imagination could ever have conjured; cloaked in a ghostly white, and looking out to her as though from a skull, it seemed the very embodiment of Death.
"Padmé, I would like to introduce my friend here to you," Serenn said, closing the door and gesturing to the beast, "This is General Grievous."
The creature cocked its head in what Padmé took to be a salutation, its joints clicking into place as it moved. She could only swallow in return, astounded by the mere fact that it had both a name and a title.
"General Grievous," Dooku went on, gesturing to Padmé now, "This is Senator Amidala of Naboo. You have heard of her, no doubt?"
The white spectre advanced on Padmé until he, it, or whatever it was, was within close range. Then, from beneath the folds of its flowing cloak, one that served to hide the body beneath more than anything, it extended a skeletal, metallic claw, and offered it to the senator; "A pleasure, my lady," he said.
It's voice was terrible. It had the same affect as its eyes, sending a sensation through one as though it had scrutinized and inspected every facet of your very soul.
She felt her limbs shake as, little by little, she stretched out her hand in return and placed it into its cold palm. Its grip was vice-like as it closed its claws about her hand and gently shook it.
"The General shall be aiding us on the more 'physical' side of the war, shan't you, General?" Serenn went on.
"Yes, your grace."
Padmé drew her hand away swiftly as soon as the beast let go; she couldn't work out what it was. It had living eyes - oh they were horrid - but its body seemed to be made of metal, and metal alone. It was a thing of both worlds, a machine and, possibly, some kind of man.
"He is a skilled warrior," Dooku added, pacing to Padmé's side, "The Jedi shall not long last against him."
Padmé thought the creature snickered, but, as she looked at him, she guessed her imagination may have construed it. The General bowed his head as soon as he noticed Padmé's gaze upon him, and she felt, for some reason, that he were ridiculing her, the gesture seeming curt and abrupt. The very notion that this thing had the capacity to mock, though, seemed in itself rather ludicrous, and yet she feared that he truly did have the capacity for this, and much more…
"You have fought Jedi before?" she eventually asked him.
It straightened up, every joint again clicking and whirring into place as it raised its mantis-like body to as tall as the count, then extending to be even taller; "No, my lady," it hissed, "But I can use their weapons well."
She looked to Dooku who seemed not to doubt this; "You have never seen anything like General Grievous before," he affirmed, a dark tenor to his voice, "No one has."
'And I pray I never do again' Padmé found herself thinking, neglecting to see the depth of resolve that had only this minute burned steadily in the depths of Dooku's eyes.
TBC…
---
Author's Notes #2: Right, after a long game of mental ping-pong, with ideas going back and forth in my mind, I resolved to use General Grievous. I said I didn't want to be inspired by Episode III, but Grievous seems too good an opportunity to miss. Right now, I'm desperate to keep this tale moving, and by inserting Grievous here, I've found that I can make my tale work better and swifter than without. Hopefully, it'll all come off. It's my story, so if I mess it up, then I've only got myself to blame. I really want to get this done and do it satisfactorily, as well. I'm guessing you guys'll tell me either way.