And I'm back at it! I saw Rise of Skywalker this Friday and while I was disappointed, it got me reinterested in Star Wars. This chapter is pretty big.

22 BBY, one day after the fall of the Kolkpravis Tribe

Pain.

It was all Sheelal knew in this moment. As he was being transported within Dooku's ship, he felt the searing pain of his wounds from within the bacta tank. Physically, and mentally. Ronderu, Bentilais, they could all be dead. His grief was immense, only surpassed by his fury. He had seen his people butchered by the Huk and the Jedi, and despite his best efforts he had failed. Sheelal felt a light pulling to him, his soul seeking to exit his body as he passed out.

"My lord, we're losing him!" uttered a medical droid in the back of the ship. The sound of a heartbeat could be heard throughout the ship.

"Increase the cauterization levels," replied Dooku as he piloted his ship. The droid nodded as he pressed a few dials on the bacta tank's panel. This particular bacta tank looked to be more advanced, with multiple large tubes connected to it.

"Rise, Sheelal."

Sheelal jerked awake upon hearing those words. He found himself on a table of sorts, with Dooku looking at him smugly. Sheelal felt pain coursing through his body, as if it was burnt by lightsaber and blaster wounds.

"You took quite the beating, didn't you Sheelal?"

"I fought as hard as any Kaleesh would. But in the end my people lost the war."

"So I saw."

"Why did you save me Dooku?"

Sheelal seemed curious. He didn't think Dooku cared about the war he fought.

"Because you possess a skillset I am in need of," replied Dooku. "A galactic war is on the horizon."

"So you need me as a general," replied Sheelal. "Is that it?"

"A general...and a warrior," replied Dooku. "The Jedi will likely be siding with the Republic in this conflict, and I need someone to strike fear into their hearts and cull their numbers."

Sheelal raised his head in interest. Dooku's proposition intrigued him.

"That is something I can do," replied Sheelal. "The Jedi took everything from me. I grieve for my people."

"They did indeed," replied Dooku. "Would you say the wounds they inflicted are...grievous ones?"

"Yes actually. Grievous wounds. How am I supposed to fight when I have no arms?"

"I have a plan for that."

Several minutes later, Sheelal rose from the table yet again, in a new form. Bone-white cybernetics adorned his body, save for his legs. Yet, he retained a bone-white Kaleesh mask. Feeling this new power, Sheelal stepped off of the table, grasping his new hands.

"This feels...good," uttered Sheelal. "I can compete with the Jedi physically."

"Good, good," replied Dooku. "Try splitting your arms."

Sheelal split off another set of arms from his other arms, spinning the hands around. He gave Dooku a sinister look as he did so.

"Four arms. Four weapons. One small change I would like to make."

"And that is?" asked Dooku.

"Amputate and replace my legs."

"But your legs work fine," replied Dooku. "There's no need."

"I want to give up all traces of my previous body to compete with the Jedi. My legs would hold back my potential as a warrior."

Dooku grinned wickedly as he looked towards Sheelal.

Some time later, Sheelal found himself with robotic legs resembling his old Kaleesh ones, but fitting the rest of his cybernetics.

"Much better," replied Sheelal. "Legs worthy of a general."

"Now then, we have more to deal with Sheelal," replied Dooku. "Firstly, I think it'd be best to...find a new name to hide your past. Something...frightening."

"Grievous," replied Sheelal. "General Grievous."

"Why Grievous?" replied Dooku. "Seems a bit odd."

"I grieve for all I've lost," replied Grievous. "And I will inflict wounds as grievous as I suffered upon the Jedi!"

"Excellent," replied Dooku. "Now then, let's get you used to fighting in that form."

Dooku handed Grievous a metal cylinder with several switches on the side. Grasping the cylinder carefully, Grievous activated it as a green blade emerged, one of a lightsaber.

"You want me to use a Jedi's weapon Dooku?!" exclaimed Grievous. "Stoop to their level?!"

"To defeat an enemy, you must know them," replied Dooku. He then got into a fighting stance as Grievous spun around his saber.

"No hard feelings," uttered Grievous as he charged at Dooku with his saber. While Dooku was going "easy" on Grievous, the Kaleesh took to using a lightsaber quickly. His slashes were methodical however, and easy to counter.

"Stop using the standard attacks, use the unorthodox!" exclaimed Dooku as he repelled Grievous's strikes. The two of them continued to spar, with Grievous slowly learning to adapt his strategy. Lightsaber dueling was a matter of life and death; every failed maneuver meant a limb lost. Grievous threw his lightsaber to one of his feet as he did a handstand, quickly parrying Dooku's strikes and throwing him off guard. He then went back into a regular battle stance.

"Control my central line!" exclaimed Dooku as he fought off Grievous. In response, Grievous used the environment around the room to his advantage, leaping onto the operating table and pointing his saber at Dooku.

"Good," uttered Dooku as he put out his hand. As he pushed it, Grievous was launched to the side by the Force, hitting the ground. However, he got up and leapt at Dooku, continuing to slash him with his saber.

"Destroy my focus..." uttered Dooku as he fought Grievous, observing his tactics. "You're holding the saber too tightly."

At that moment, Grievous loosened his grip as Dooku struck his saber, causing it to exit his hand and enter Dooku's.

"Now, too lightly."

Grievous got out of his battle stance as he looked to Dooku.

"Your skills with a weapon are undeniable," uttered Dooku. "With a lightsaber however, they need some work."

As you can see, I took inspiration from the 2003 Clone Wars series for Dooku and Grievous's first duel. His transformation was also intended to parallel Anakin becoming Vader. Hopefully you enjoyed!