Interlude - Part 2
Tyrannus awoke an hour later to the sound of an incoming message pinging his ship. He sighed, sat up straight, and played the incoming message on his ship's extensive control board. A holographic image of General Grievous appeared and began to speak.
"Lord Tyrannus" Grievous said in a muffled metallic voice. His holographic image swept into a low bow and then broke into a fit of coughing. Once the fit was over, he continued. "Our master has instructed me to help you in your newest assignment. I have locked onto your ship and will be half a day's time behind you." One more bow and another fit of coughing ended the transmission.
Tyrannus rubbed his temples and sighed. Apparently, this girl was more important than he originally thought if Sideous was willing to devote another of his largest resources in an effort to obtain her. He would need to plan his capture of the girl carefully. Maybe he would send a few waves of droids first just to test her and see what she was capable of. He would discuss his plan with Grievous, but he had a feeling that the general would agree with that strategy.
Tyrannus stood up and left the control room, content on leaving his droids to their duties on the ship. His talents were better suited for managing the political landscape that he and Sideous would one day rule. He made his way to his ship's study, a room that was nearly as ornate as his study back on Serenno, and poured over trade agreements, blockade strategies, and treaties for hours on end until his eyes could no longer focus. Then he pulled himself into his desk-side bed and slept, hoping that they would be at their destination by the time he woke up.
FIN
Tyrannus woke to a beeping sound in his study that signified they were about to exit hyperspace. He got up, cleaned himself up and headed for the control room. Various droids passed him on the way, going about their business keeping his ship in pristine condition. As he walked into the control room, he saw the blue tunnel of hyperspace through the front window.
"How long until we leave hyperspace?" he asked his pilot droid.
"Approximately five minutes." It replied.
"Good. As soon as we reach the planet, put us into orbit and start scanning the surface. I want to find this girl quickly." He sat in the chair in the middle of the room and began to feel a slight bit of apprehension about what they would find when they left hyperspace. They were in the Wilds of the Galaxy, and this planet was undocumented, so it could be anything. In fact, Tyrannus wasn't sure if he had ever been this far off the beaten path before. The thought was an unsettling one. Paranoia crept back into his thoughts. Was Sideous luring him out here to get rid of him? He pondered this for a moment and came to a conclusion. No, he was too instrumental in Sideous' future plans to be disposed of like this. Besides, there were much easier ways to get rid of someone. He grimaced at the thought. He ran his hands though the tangle of snow-white hair that covered his head and watched out the window as the ship finally left hyperspace. The unknown planet loomed before him.
The planet, which was roughly the size of Coruscant, was covered in dense forests and littered with lakes. It reminded Tyrannus a little bit of Serenno, the similarities slightly easing his tension. The problem was, with all the dense vegetation, there would be ample places to hide. Why could the planet not be a desert planet like Tatooine? He thought. This assignment was probably going to take longer than expected.
"Orbital path engaged and scanners up and running." The droid working the control panel announced as the planet swept away below them.
Tyrannus watched as a large mountain range came into view on the surface. Jutting up between the dense swaths of forest, the mountain ridge looked like the spine of some colossal beast protruding from the planet. After a few minutes, it passed out of sight. Besides that, the entire planet was one big forest.
"Where does the tracking beacon tell us the girl's ship is located at the moment?" Tyrannus asked.
"At the base of the mountain range that passed moments ago." The droid replied.
"Very well. Keep scanning the planet and let me know of any anomalies you find. I will return once General Grievous has joined us." With that, Tyrannus left the control room and headed back to his study.
Several hours later the intercom on Tyrnnus's desk sprang to life.
"Sir, General Grievous's ship has just left hyperspace and matched orbit with our ship." The control droid informed him.
"Very well." He said before shutting the intercom off. "Let the hunting begin."
FIN
As Tyrannus stared across the table in the central chamber of his ship, had had the same thought that he always had every time he saw the cyborg general. Grievous was tall. Not that it really counted. His body could be remade to any specification that he requested. But the metallic body with the cape made an intimidating figure to say the least. Tyrannus remembered that Grevious's Kaleesh body had been tall to begin with, but the robotic replacement seemed even taller. His enhancements had made him a fine weapon in the separatist movement.
"As I was saying." Grievous continued after what had been an extended fit of coughing. "I believe your plan is a good one. I will send a battalion of my finest droids to scour the area where the tracking beacon says her ship is. If she is not there, we will send torpedoes to destroy her ship leaving her trapped on this planet. Then, if our droids cannot retrieve her, we go on the surface ourselves and take her."
Tyrannus nodded, "Then send your battalion and give me any updates they may have. Feel free to remain on my ship if you want until we find the girl."
"Thank you Count, but I will retire to my ship. If we do need to go to the surface to obtain this girl, and if she is as dangerous as Sideous says, then I will want to calibrate my robotic parts to be in top operational shape." With a bow and a swish of his cape, Grievous left the chamber.
Tyrannus went back to his study.
About two hours had passed when Tyrannus was hailed by Grievous himself. "Well, did you find anything?" Tyrannus asked the holographic figure of Grievous floating over his desk.
"We did not. Shall we fire torpedoes at the location?"
"Yes. Report back when it is done."
"Yes sir." The holograph of Grievous faded from view.
Tyrannus decided to walk to the control room so he could view the torpedo strike himself. He settled into the main chair and watched through the window in the control room as two bright small dots Tyrannus knew to be the exhaust plumes of torpedoes left Grievous's ship extremely fast and headed in the direction of the mountain's base. He expected to see a small tremor on the surface from the girl's ship's location, but that didn't happen. Instead, the torpedoes detonated miles away from the intended target.
As if on cue, a holograph of Grievous appeared above the control panel.
"Sir, I don't know what happened. Those torpedoes completely lost control at the last second and missed their mark by several miles!" he said, breaking into a fit of coughing once again.
"I think I know what happened." Tyrannus said, more to himself than to Grievous.
The girl had used the force to change the trajectory of those torpedoes. That was the only explanation for what had just happened. A shiver ran down Tyrannus's spine. To move an object that large and moving that fast required a skill and mastery of the force that Tyrannus had only seen in a select few individuals.
This new turn of events only meant one thing. A droid invasion would be incredibly ineffective against their target. They could send all the droids they had and would only receive scrap metal in return. Why would their master send them here to retrieve this girl if he knew just how powerful she really was? This seemed like something he would personally see to himself. Nevertheless, they needed to bring this girl in, or return to their master in failure.
"General." Tyrannus's deep voice took on an ominous tone. "I don't believe sending droids will work. We will need to go to the surface ourselves. Prepare yourself and meet me on my ship in an hour's time."
"Yes sir."
Tyrannus ended the communication.
