Star Wars

The Revenge of Qymaen jai Sheelal

Chapter 8: Grievous' Games

Upon leaving the Invisible Hand, Grievous began to mentally note what he had done so far, in terms of preparing for his...sessions, with his hostages. His MagnaGuards had already been contacted, and had moved young Skywalker into a new cell, a far more secure cell. The door was apparently twice as thick as normal, and the locking mechanisms were also to be some of the best in the galaxy. He pondered for a moment, in his shuttle, as to exactly why a palace prison would have cells that strong, but when one has a great deal of credits, one would always want the best, or as close to best as possible. He shrugged off the thought and moved on to a new one, the drugs had already been administered by his bodyguards, and the boy was apparently sleeping now, but that would be remedied quickly.

There was then, of course, the Senator, who was by comparison, completely harmless. Her cell was far less secure, but two of his MangaGuards were always by the door, so any escape attempt would be futile. Then again, she had been the Queen of Naboo at one time, so she might have learned of an escape route through the prison, as might the current Queen. Still, his MagnaGuards could crush highly trained clonetroopers, and could stand on equal ground with Jedi, they would be more than sufficient to guard two politicians. He might be able to break the Queen for sport as well, but after watching her personal guards fall quickly at Grievous' hands, she had already lost a great deal of her resolve. She had put up no fight after she was captured, and he doubted that she would later.

He had been slightly angered upon learning that the Gungan Senator, Jar Jar Binks, had escaped his grasp, but he was definitely not as intelligent as Amidala, that was a certainty. As a result of himself being on Coruscant, he could send a larger fleet to take back the Naboo system from the CIS, but it was highly unlikely that they would succeed. As Chairman San Hill had promised, three Munificent-class star frigates had moved into the space over Naboo, and was now a part of his fleet. The Munificent-class were not larger than most frigates, but they had a great deal of firepower, and were designed and built for heavy combat. Not only this but each held 150,000 deactivated battle droids, and thus making the General's total army even larger. These ships would make a fine addition to his personal assault fleet.

Grievous felt a slight tremor as the shuttle landed in the palace hanger, which had been completely cleared of starfighers, and now served as the General's personal hanger, and the palace itself, his private sanctum. The door of the craft opened, and the ramp lowered, and the towering cyborg moved slowly out of the craft, eyes scanning the empty area. Well, almost empty, there was but a single IG-100 MagnaGuard standing in the hanger, electrostaff in hand, awaiting the General's arrival. Silence fell over the hanger for a moment, before Grievous spoke to his guard, "Where is the Jedi? Take me to him..." he ordered simply. "Yes, General Grievous." the droid responded, bowing slightly and leading the way towards the palace prison.

The prison was simply a holding area, and the rooms were far larger than Grievous would have liked, he would have made the rooms small, cramped, and uncomfortable, but there would be time for that later. He and his guard passed through the corridor of holding cells, most of which were empty, but he would fix that in time. After the subjugation of a world, normally there will be a time of peace, where the fear is at it's zenith, but slowly, beings would feel a temptation of rebellion and change, and eventually moves are made to end that fear, but the General was not going to let that happen any time soon. Eventually the two entered a turbolift, and moved down a level, to the higher security area. There was no outward difference between the two floors, but the locks were stronger, and every five cells, there was a thick durasteel door, to be closed at the push of a button should an escape be attempted. His eyes caught two other Magnaguards, standing by a single door, and it was obvious that this was the cell that young Skywalker was now in. He eyed the two droids for a moment, "What is his condition?" he asked with a hint of cruelty. He had injured the boy severely, and it would take a good deal of time for him to fully recover, but to what state he had injured him was a bit of a mystery, as he had left shortly thereafter. "He has several small fractures on his skull, a broken nose, and three broken ribs. He was treated for the wounds only to the extent needed, it will be at least a month before he recovers to his previous state, sir." he droid stated in a deep, but monotonous voice. "And the drugs?" Grievous questioned further. "A mild muscle relaxant, and the other causes painful headaches, General."

Grievous chuckled slightly, everything was going according to plan, Skywalker could not escape if his life depended on it now, and he would have fun toying with him for a while, until the Republic could find something they were willing to agree upon as a proper trade. He himself could find nothing that could truly be useful that would be worth this Padawan, but sympathy in many living beings would up the price, and he was a Jedi, no less, so there was no telling. More likely there would be no trade, and the Republic would try in vain to save his three hostages, and again they would fail. The Republic and the Senate obviously doubted his abilities...that would soon change.

He pressed a small blue panel on the wall next to the cell. The door slid up, and Grievous entered the chamber. He wanted to laugh, oh he wanted to laugh so hard, at the sight of this Jedi, so weak and frail, that in a second he could be killed, oh the humor in it. He kept his composure, and eyed the Jedi, who was sitting, nearly lying, on the floor, leaning his back against the wall, and trying to look up at he who had conquered him in lightsaber combat. His nose was bloody, small bits of cloth inside his nostrils to prevent bleeding. His head was bandaged tightly, and as was his chest, his robes open slightly where the medical droids had treated him. His face was heavily bruised, and four cuts were visible, two on his cheeks, and two around his chin. These were where his claws had dug into his flesh before throwing him off the roof of a building, the other two marks would have been on his skull, hidden by the bandages. It was obvious by the look in Skywalker's eyes that he had a deep resentment for Grievous, as one would expect, but he was in no condition to do anything about it.

Anakin winced slightly at the sight of Grievous, and then grimaced, "What do you want?" he said with a great deal of spite in his voice.

Grievous chuckled slightly, "Is that any way to speak to the one who holds control of you life in the palm of his hand? I would suggest you to act a little kinder to me, boy."

Anakin winced again, staying silent for a moment, "Who are you?...And what do you want with Senator Amidala?" he asked the droid, as he was never given an answer the first time he asked those questions.

"As you will most likely die in this place, I suppose you should at least know the name of your captor, I am General Grievous, and as for the Senator, that I will keep to myself." he chuckled slightly while stating the latter .

"What have you done with her?" he said, mustering up a bit of strength to sit up a bit more, and asking with a great deal of vigor.

"Why does that concern you? You should be more concerned with your own situation, Skywalker."

"What have you done with her!" he said in a near roar.

Grievous realized he had struck a nerve with this boy, he was very protect of the Senator, but to what degree was yet to be determined, but that would be settled soon enough. "She is in a cell, like you. A prisoner of war, and my captive. She may hold some information that might be useful, and if she does, I will be extracting it by any means necessary. " he said, hinting cruelty in his voice.

"Don't you dare touch her!" he yelled at the droid, trying to lift himself to his feet so he could kill this machine in front of him.

Grievous cackled slightly in his throat, "Oh, I plan on doing far more than that, I plan on torturing her until I am given any information that I might be seeking..."

"I'll kill you!" he stopped the General mid-sentence, throwing himself forward, and thrusting his mechno-hand, balled into a fist, towards Grievous.

Grievous caught the Jedi's hand easily, taking it tightly in his own, six-fingered hand, and crushing it slightly, watching Skywalker give out a scream of pain. The General laughed, taking Anakin by the throat and bringing him eye to eye him, nearly pressing him again his white, mask-like face, "You should rest, Skywalker, you are obviously too weak even try to harm me. You efforts are typical of the Jedi, brave, but idiotic, and in the end, completely futile." the cyborg said in a dark, and cold tone, before dropping the Jedi, to the ground, and looking down at him, "Enjoy your stay, Jedi." he said, before turning and leaving the cell. Upon making it beyond the doorway, his hand moved towards the panel, pressing a red rectangular button, right below the blue one, and sealing the door behind him.

He did not turn to either of his guards, but simply spoke, "When he passes out, or falls asleep, give him a nutrient injection, I would prefer to keep him alive, understood?"

"Yes, Lord General." they both responded.

Grievous noticed that this third MangaGuard had left the prison, and wondered for a moment where it had gone. He moved towards the turbolift, and before he could even press the panel to call it, the doors opened, and inside was his missing MagnaGuard. Grievous moved inside, and the guard spoke, "General, Count Dooku is here, as is the rest of the Separatist Council, they request your presence, sir."

"I see, where are they?" he questioned.

"In the meeting hall, sir."

Grievous stood silently for the few moments it took for the turbolift to take them both to the main floor of the palace. The meeting hall was on this floor, it was close to the throne room from what he had learned from his scouts, and it would work for it's purpose. As the doors opened, a second MagnaGuard stood at the door, and as Grievous left the turbolift, they both flanked him. They made their way down the corridors slowly, their cloaks waving slightly as they moved. He was not a particular fan of many of the members of the Separatist Council, most of them he had a slight dislike for, while others he could not stand. Count Dooku he had a respect for, as he was far more intelligent than most of the other members, which is why he was the Head of State of the CIS. Grievous was only required because he was the absolute authority of the Separatist Droid Armies, and thus he was a major piece of the CIS, though he had not power in the Separatist Council. He could make suggestions, and advise a particular piece of legislature, or put in an idea for consideration. He knew that his two proposals would be placed before the Council, and he also knew that while he was in the same room, they had a much higher chance of being passed, he simply had that effect on the Council...