Chapter Forty: A Futile Mission

River gasped as she sat up right from her nightmare filled sleep. She had, had many nightmares. The first one was she was pushed down a marble staircase in the palace back in the capital of clan Algesi and she felt a sickening crunch when she landed on her stomach.

The other one was of an explosion then the picture had faded to Grievous hanging on for life in a bacta tank hardly stabilized, then the picture faded yet again to see him laying on a table his new and improved body complete. She wanted to wake up but it was like she was held unable to wake to avoid finishing the nightmare like she was being sent these from some one, but who? Then the picture came into focus all she saw was a large hand wrapping onto what felt like her throat and that was when she was released from the horrible events she saw in her sleep.

As she calmed down sweat rolled down her face in heavy drops. After she recovered she went to the bathroom and got a shower. She came out relaxed and awake not feeling so upset about what had occurred in the night.

The door slid open and a service droid walked in and set a box on her bed and walked out the door sliding closed behind it. She walked over to the bed grabbing one of her smaller daggers she had arranged on one of the shelves in an elaborate display. She cut through the sticky substance that secured it shut to uncover an outfit she had designed and ordered a long time ago before she went to the Jedi Temple.

The top part of the outfit was red with lace along the hem of the shirt and the sleeves were short so they wouldn't get in the way while she was in combat, it came just above her bellybutton and fit snuggly showing off her curves that she hadn't like showing so much in the past. The skirt was the same color with lace along the hem of it. It had little ivory Kamea blossoms embroidered on it and it also showed off her curves. The top and skirt complemented the other perfectly.

She left it on the bed as she dried her hair and twisted it in an elaborate knot, and then she painted her face with her pattern that she had designed back on Kalee. She came back out of the bathroom and slipped into the dress and put her black cloak on and positioned it so it wouldn't hide her dress and she put her entire collection of lightsabers inside the sleeves in her cloak and on the belt she wore around her waist.

She then set off to attend to her everyday duties aboard the Invisible Hand. She walked briskly so that her cloak trailed behind very dramatically. She did this because she finally felt like a warrior again but not a warrior for Kalee but a warrior for whatever cause the Separatist were for, she really didn't care what it was either.

As she headed to her destination of were she did not know when the General stormed past her in a graceful run.

"GO TO THE HANGER." he yelled before he was gone.

She headed there now knowing were she was headed but why, and why was he running? Was there a Jedi on the ship and he was going to go and fight it? She didn't know so she headed to the hanger contemplating this as she went.

When she got there she saw him giving some oders then start pacing a short distance, when he noticed her he stood up seeming somewhat better and beckoned for her to come over to him. When she was standing in front of him he started talking with a tone of urgancy in his voice.

"Count Dooku has informed me that one of our major droid facilities is being attacked and he want's you and I to defeand it. I told him that we would be there in no time and assured him we would arrive there in secrecy."

"So that means we're taking your fighter?"

"Yes, well me any way."

"What about me you told Count Dooku that I would be arriving in secrecy also right?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm going to have to ride with you seeming I haven't desinged my fighter that I want to build yet."

"Follow me." he said as he walked in the direction of an enclosed hanger bay.

She followed, curious as to how she was going to get there without riding with him. Not that she wanted to it was extremely uncomfertable to sit in his lap, it's just she wanted to get there without blowing her cover also so that she wasn't a target.

"Now I don't know if it was what you had in mind for when you designed your own but go take a look." he said letting her walk past him into the bay.

When she looked inside she saw a exact modle as his fighter except it wasn't silver it was black. She walked up to it awe struck, running her hand along the side feeling its smooth surface. The surface was so polished she could she her reflection in it and then some.

"No its not what I had wanted to design," she paused seeing his disappointment. "It's better than what I could have designed!" she said looking at him a smile across her face when she saw his eyes light up and he had a more pleased air to him.

"Well I'm glad that you like it. I thought it would appropriate if you had your own fighter like mine because of the "master/apprentice gig" as you call it. Oh and I hope you can fly it."

"You know very well that I can fly a larger craft than this one and ones that are more complex in piloting."

He yelled for some droids to pull it out into the main hanger so she could get out easier. She followed him back into the main hanger trying to express her gratitude but was having extreme difficulty with it buit fortunatly he understood what she was trying to say and told her that.

The droids pulled it up next to his fighter and he turned to her.

"So what are you going to name your fighter?" he asked clearly showing he was curious.

"Oh I think that I'll use the name of the clan that I truely felt like I belonged there and it also was one of the greatest clan's in all of Kalee."

"Oh what was that?"

"Algesi."

"A good strong name that is perfect for her."

"I know that was why I picked it. Well I'm literally dieing for a fight and to try it out so lets get a move on," she said climbing into the cockpit.

"Couldn't say it better if I tried," he replied jumping into the cockpit of his fighter.

"Good luck and see you on Geonosis," she said as she started the engines up and took off with ease.

Grievous was pleased that she liked her fighter and watched with pride as his apprentice flew out of the hanger because unkown to her Dooku was observing her in her natural environment behavior to decide if it was time she took on her own solo missions.

River landed her fighter on the secrete landing pad just a few hundred yards away from the facility. She got out and disgarded her cloak so that it wouldn't get in the way while she was in combat even if it made a dramtic effect. She waited a couple of minutes before the General arrived.

He gracefully jumped out of the cockpit and landed with perfect accuracy right beside her. He noticed the disgarded cloak and shrugged to himself.

"Lets go." he said walking through the underbrush towards the facility.

She followed with anticapation. They made it into the facility without encountering anyone or anything which made River all the more eager for battle.

"So who are we fighting against?" she asked once the were undercover in the facility making their way to the control center.

"The Republic they think that it would be a major blow to the Separatists if they demolished some of our larger facilities. But it won't be a blow it would be an inconvinance because we would have to wait longer for more troops and reinforcements but it won't set back our droid production."

"So then why are we here?"

"One Count Dooku sent us, two it would be an inconvinance, and three I want to fight, don't you?"

"Yes of course I do I was just curious as to why we were here and that we wern't going back on orders not saying you would do that but you now how I used to be try and avoid humiliation by not going back on orders."

He looked over his shoulder then shook his head mumbling about women being overcausious.

They reached the control room and a bunch of Geionosians were in there buzzing around trying to keep the shields up as they were showered with attacks. She slipped her little hearing device in her ear that Suci had given her so she could understand what was going on. And she liked the situation because Grievous was talking to one of the commanders and hearing the conversation she managed to tell that they were secretly going to go behind enemy lines and attack from the inside.

After Grievous finished he beckoned for her to follow him. She rushed out of the room and not knowing he had stopped she bumped into him unintentialy. She rubbed her forhead were she had made contact with his dura-steel arm.

"Ow you really must like stopping without warning so that I bump into you don't you," after she said that she clasped her hand over her mouth knowing that she had spoken out of place and prepard for the wall smashing.

But he didn't he just chuckled to himself like he really enjoyed her ramming into him. And unknown to her he did.

"What we're going to do is we are going to sneak out of here and go a long distance so that we are not seen and attack their missle launchers, their troops, the whole bit. Got it?"

"Got it," she said feeling rather chipper.

They exited the facility and made their way into the dense underbrush and trees. As they walked silently like predators sneeking up on their prey River pulled out her two double bladed sabers and held them tightly in her hands, she saw Grievous silently split his arms in two and pull out four sabers of his own.

When they got to a spot that was deep in the other troops heart but close enough that if they had to make a run for it they could with just a few simple leaps. He looked back at her and gave her the quite signal for attack. They jumped out together in a flurry of purple, dark blue, light blue, white, and green smiting their enemies with ease together side by side with a force no one could withstand.

For what drove both of them onward not caring about the pretection of themselves was the pretection of the other and the love that was shared between these two warriors of old now in a new glory of battle not only personal but as a team they fought their everyday battles together never faltering.

River jumped up onto one of the launchers, took the pilot out and piloted it herself aiming at the other large things she saw that were a threat to her cause destroying most of the launchers and damaging the ships.

Grievous was nothing but a dangerous wisp of dancing deadly light to the Republic's army and was deafending himself with ease.

But to their dismay they Republic had plenty of reinforcements and just when they thought they were going to win the shield to the facility went out and the few launchers that ramained started firing away, and more battalions appeard. Running for the cover of the facility they covered the great distance in a matter of seconds.

They ran into the hanger of the facility persude by at least one hundred troopers. They were surrounded and Grievous looked at her she looked at him and they read what the other was going to attempt and without a word they jumped into action defeanding their lives.

River charged into the circle of troopers bring them down in swift movements of her lightsabers. The troopers were so stunned at the quick movements that they didn't have a chance to fight back. River was so consentrated on defeating all the troopers that she didn't notice that she was getting further and further from her master.

When all the troopers were not moving River looked around to see Grievous on the far end of the hanger. She started walking towards him when a big thunder ran through the entire building and things started to fall down followed by more thunder.

"GET DOWN!!!" yelled Grievous to River.

"WHAT!!" she yelled back not able to hear him.

"GET DOWN!!!"

"WHAT!!"

"GET DOWN!!!!!!" he yelled getting really frustrated with her lack of hearing.

The roof started to come down were River was standing and she didn't notice because she was trying to dodge falling debrise and she was yelling something about if he was trying to tell her something that he would have to come over to her to tell her because she couldn't hear.

"Women," he said running as fast as he could before she was killed by the roof that was collapsing around them.

When he made contact with her he shielded her with his body forcing them to go tumbling head first toward the door. As soon as they made contact with the floor they heard and felt the ceiling and walls fall down around them.

When the noise seised they stayed hudled like that for a while River feeling stupid because she didn't have eyes on the top of her head and Grievous thankful for his dura-steel body.

"Okay you can get of me now I think its safe." wheezed River due to her air being restricted because she had 157 kilos on top of her...again.

He got up and helped her to find that the entire building was a pile of rubble around them. They heard comotion a distance away and they wern't able to see the source because of all the dust. They made their way to the edge of the rubble and made their way to the secrete landing pad that their figthers were on.

When they got there River leaned up against the side of her fighter covered in dust feeling really sick to the stomach because of the report they were going to have to give to Dooku.

"Crum," said River wanting to use a stronger word but found it that when ever she did it left a bad taste in her mouth so she stuck with her fraze.

Grievous cursed in Kaleesh and River looked at him shocked. She never liked curses and always got after him when he used them.

"Why do you have to use those words?"

"What do you expect me to use when I have to give a bad report to Dooku when he is not going to be happy?"

"Crum is very sufficient because it doesn't sound bad but it can mean a thousand horrible things to say and not hurt the ears of others," she said sticking to her point.

He rolled his eyes.

"Oh by the way thank you for saving my life... again."

"Your welcome I seem to do that alot as I recall."

"Yes plenty of times from humiliation and from death and I am grateful for your persistence in keeping me alive and my reputation stable."

He walked over to her put his hands on either side of her head and stood there looking intently at her. She looked gorgeous in that dress and covered with dust and sweat, it reminded him of when they used to visit after battles.

She stared back with the same intensity thinking back on the past battles when he was still whole.

"Come on we need to get out of here before they find us." she said climbing into her cockpit.

"I agree." he said doing the same very reluctantly.

They started there engines up and headed back to the Invisible Hand dreading it as they got closer and closer to their report of the failed battle.