The cool interior of the Nebula was a welcome change compared to the heat and humidity of Felucia. After helping the surviving villagers clean the up the aftermath of the battle, they wished Cassis goodbye and returned to the Nebula, where Ahsoka revealed her plan to Lux and Barriss.
"The two of you need to get to take these," said Ahsoka, gesturing to the two bags of grenades that she'd taken from the village. "Place them around the ship. Once you're done with that, get to the bridge and turn the guns towards the two other ships. Once that's done, we'll meet back on the Nebula and get away."
"And what about Grevious?" Barriss asked. "He's bound to be on the bridge. There's no way we'll be able to get past him."
"And that's where I come in," said Ahsoka. "I'll lure him out and keep him distracted for long enough to allow you two to finish the plan."
"No," Lux responded almost immediately. "No way. This is Grevious we're talking about. He's an expert at killing Jedi. Even the Separatist Parliament fears him."
"Can you think of a better option?" Ahsoka asked. Lux remained quiet and shook his head. "Exactly. Besides, I've fought him before. Granted, I almost died, but I still did it."
"Is this supposed to make us feel more confident?" asked Barriss. "Because it's doing the exact opposite."
Ahsoka smirked at her. "Let's go, then."
The Nebula's engines roared as it took off from the planet's surface. Soon, the three Separatist ships came into view and Ahsoka docked the ship on one of the emergency airlocks with a sharp clang.
Luckily for the, the back hallways of the ship were empty. They exited the Nebula and Lux and Barriss slid their backpacks on their backs.
"Comm me when you're done," said Ahsoka. "With a little luck, we'll be back here soon."
The three of them dispersed. Ahsoka made her way silently through the halls, quickly slicing and dispatching of any droids she came across. Being on the Separatist ship reminded her of her mission on Grevious's secret listening station on the Ruusan moon, back when she was a young Padawan. And here she found herself in a similar situation, about to face off against Grevious yet again, only this time the circumstances were completely different.
She silently approached the bridge and, stopping momentarily to prepare herself for the confrontation, used the Force to open the door and calmly walked into the room.
Once inside, she found herself looking at the massive, hulking figure that was General Grevious. Although he couldn't make facial expressions, Ahsoka assumed that if he could, he would be scowling at her. Two magnagaurds flanked him, electrostaffs unlit but at their sides.
"Jedi," he snarled in his low, raspy voice. She chose not to correct him on his choice of words.
"Now, General," Ahsoka said in a mocking voice. "Is that any way to greet a guest."
"How rude of me," he snarled. "I would have made the necessary preparations if I knew you were coming." He waved a clawed, mechanical hand and the magnagaurds sprung to life, igniting their electrostaffs. The electric purple tips flickered as they approached her.
One of them swung at her, and she nimbly dodged the attack. While the droid was off balance from the strike, she sliced it's electrostaff in half and sent it tumbling away from her with a kick in the chest.
The other droid advanced towards her slowly, more cautiously. Ahsoka held her lightsabers defensively across her body, waiting for it to make the first strike. Droids were built to be on the offense, and therefore they typically made mistakes when it came to defending themselves from attack. Ahsoka would just have to wait for an opportunity.
She blocked it's first strike with her lightsaber, and as the first droid regained it's footing, Ahsoka swiftly cut the second in half, stabbing it in the head to make sure it stayed down. The first droid charged towards her, and she kept over its head and stabbed it from behind. It's eyes flickered and shut off and the droid went down.
"How about you come and face me yourself?"
Grevious laughed. "You are arrogant, padawan. You will die like all the other Jedi I've faced." He ignited two of his lightsabers, one blue and one green.
Without any hesitation, he kept at Ahsoka, slashing wildly left and right, his sabers a whir of color. She dodged and blocked each strike to the best of his ability, but Grevious was truly more elite than any other opponent she had faced. He was trained by Count Dooku, similar to Maul, but while Maul had caught with rage and hatred as his fuel, Grevious thought and planned each strike and where it would land. He couldn't use the Force, but he didn't even need to in order to be a deadly opponent.
I need to draw him away from the bridge, she thought.
She began to slowly walk backwards while blocking his strikes. She led him out of the bridge and into the hallway. Once out of the bridge and sure that he was following her, she broke out into a sprint, running to the end of the hall and turning just in time to parry his swing. Her two white blades clashed against his green and blue ones, and for just a moment she wondered who they had belonged to. She shook her head slightly. It didn't matter. All that mattered was making sure that she didn't become the next addition to his collection.
"Looks like you are outmatched, Padawan," taunted Grevious.
Ahsoka smirked at him. "That's just what you think." She slid beneath him and Aused the Force to push him against the wall, giving her time to slip into the adjacent hallway and lead him further away from the bridge.
"Barriss!" Ahsoka said into her comm as she ran. "The plan is working! Have you made it to the bridge yet?"
"Almost there!" Barriss replied. "Just buy us a little more time."
"I'm working on it," Ahsoka whispered to herself. She turned around, lightsabers outstretched in front of her as Grevious ignited his other two lightsabers. She lost concentration momentarily as she heard the sound of the ship's guns firing and explosions coming from the other two Separatist ships. Barriss and Lux must have done their part of the plan well.
That small amount of time was all it took for Grevious's mechanical leg to shoot up and strike Ahsoka in the face, knocking her to the ground and sending her lightsabers spinning out of her grasp. She lifted a hand to her jaw and when she pulled it away it was red with blood.
"Now you die, Jedi, just like the Republic will."
Grevious stood over her menacingly, raising his sabers to strike. Something inside Ahsoka seemed to harden.
I will not be killed by a droid of all things.
She stretched out her hands, feeling them grasp around the metal of her lightsabers just in time for her to bring the blades to life and reach up to lock his blades with hers.
"I don't think so," she growled, pushing herself back up onto her feet. "The only death around here will be yours."
Grevious laughed, a rasping sound coming from deep within his chest. "No mere padawan will ever get the best of me."
"We'll see about that." Ahsoka flicked her blades upwards, slicing his lower pair of hands clean off and sending two lightsabers clean across the room. One of the lightsabers had been cut in half, but the other was still whole and Ahsoka seized her chance. She forced one of the lightsabers towards her and she clipped it onto her belt. She pointed one of her sabers towards Grevious, effectively pinning him down so other he couldn't move without being impales by her white blade. But she also couldn't move without letting Grevious free to probably kill her.
"You'll regret that, Jedi," Grevious said from his place in the floor.
"Will I?" She turned on her comm. "Barriss. Where are you?"
"Returning to the hangar now."
"Activate the bombs."
"What?" She could hear the surprise in Barriss's voice. "But we're still on board!"
"Just do it!" Ahsoka said. "Trust me!"
The ship shuddered and groaned as Barriss followed Ahsoka's advice and activated the bombs.
Grevious hissed. "Out of the way Jedi!" He kicked Ahsoka in the leg, knocking her over and crawling away towards the escapes pods on his legs and remaining arms. By the time Ahsoka had gotten up, he was out of sight.
The ship shook as it was rocked by explosions. There was no time for Ahsoka to go after him. She had to get back to the Nebula before the ship was entirely destroyed.
She returned to the hangar where they'd landed the Nebula, passing several droids on the way who were too busy panicking to pay much attention to her. The access ramp was already down and as soon as Ahsoka boarded the ship, the door slammed shut and they took off, leaving the destroyed ships behind them.
They had done it.
Felucia was free.
She joined Barriss and Lux on the bridge, practically collapsing into her chair. Almost as soon as she sat down, however, her comm link buzzed.
She shared a confused glance with Lux and Barriss. Who could possibly be comming them?
"Hello?" Ahsoka said, clicking on her comm.
"Commander Tano? Thank goodness it's you! I've been trying to find you!"
"Sorry, who is this?" Ahsoka asked, perplexed.
"It's Fives, commander. I need your help…"