Chapter 2 – Zygerians
Sorry this chapter took so long to get here…
Thank you, tyuo for this story's first favourite, follow and comment! I take it you are a Grievous fan like myself? XD
Giovanni: I feel that the entirety of the Clone Wars was filled with sad deaths. Like Fives. And Waxer. And Tup. And Hevy, and – okay, I'll just stop here or this is going to be one very long list.
Not Holster: I'm sorry, but I don't think even I can bring back Gor :(
Anyways, typing progress is slow for this story, but on the bright side I'm writing the story in a book and a certain Jedi has turned up! More notes at the end of the chapter, in case you're interested!
Grievous turned around, his cape swishing behind him as he did, and walked out of the bridge, headed for the hangar bay where a shuttle awaited. Stalking aboard the smaller craft, the ramp closed behind him as the engines powered up. Along the walls were lined six Commando droids and twelve regular B-1 Battle droids.
As the ship took off, Grievous felt the telltale vibrations run along the surfaces of the ship and up his own cybernetic legs. Even though he stood in what was basically a sealed-off metal container, he was still aware of the sensation of the shuttle's movement through the vacuum of space.
"We're here, sir," reported a droid from the cockpit eventually.
"Initiate docking procedures," Grievous ordered.
The droid didn't respond, but Grievous felt and heard the noise of his ship's airlock clamping onto another. One of the Battle droids approached the airlock and opened it, only to discover another sealed door barring their way.
"Uh-oh, we didn't bring anything to open this with!" The droid said with concern.
"Out of the way!" Grievous said ill-temperedly.
Pushing the droid aside, Grievous withdrew two lightsabers he always carried with him and ignited the blades. He plunged both lightsabers through until only their hilts showed. One saber was at the top, the other at the bottom – he then turned them in a half-circle before kicking out the circle of scorched metal. The Commando droids were the first out, flipping through and securing the corridor.
Stepping through himself, Grievous found himself in an empty corridor. A slightly grimy, but nonetheless empty corridor. After ordering two Commando droids and four Battle droids to remain at this airlock, the cyborg set out with the remainder of the droids for the second airlock which was – to his knowledge – still open into the Zygerian ship. It didn't take long to get there.
Grievous took a moment to stand there. On his way here, he hadn't encountered any of these pirates, so he assumed they were all still aboard the Zygerians' ship. He wondered if the pirates would appear in the corridor leading back to their own ship. They did.
A motley collection of humans and other alien species came charging towards the airlock that led to their means of escape. The sight of four Commando droids and eight more Battle droids was enough to stop them in their tracks, however. Especially when there was another, more menacing figure standing behind said droids.
"What're you waiting for?" One yelled after a tense silence, "Kill 'em!"
The droids didn't need an order to begin their own attack.
The small crew yanked out an assortment of blasters and began to open to open fire at the droids, who returned fire. The four Commando droids leapt and ducked around the blasts as they quickly covered the distance between themselves and the enemy. One Commando shot a man at point-blank range, another had his head twisted around too far for his neck to cope while a third was deliberately thrown into the line of fire and a fourth was used as a living shield.
Soon, despite the valiant fight they had put up, the intruders were all killed. Grievous removed his foot from one's crushed head and surveyed his surroundings. There was nothing more to be seen, so he made his way further into the ship, seeking out the Zygerians with only one Battle droid in tow. Weren't there any aboard? He wondered. Or had they all been killed? Unlikely, Grievous reasoned, the pirates couldn't have moved that fast. He headed straight to the bridge and found the blast doors sealed. At the bottom of the doors, he noticed scorch marks from where someone had attempted to cut through. Grievous turned to the Battle droid that had followed him from the airlock.
"Contact the Zygerian ship," he ordered.
"… But sir, we're on the Zygerian ship." The droid pointed out.
"I'm aware of that!" Grievous snapped, "Just do it!"
"Roger roger!" It squawked in alarm.
Grievous waited while the droid worked; he didn't just cut down the doors because – even if it would have been simpler – Count Dooku would have had something to say about it.
"What is taking so long?" He growled to the Droid.
"Well, I had to contact our ship and have them contact this one," the droid tried to explain.
In response, the General rolled his eyes in frustration.
Just then, though, the blast doors began to open. And with it, some amount of Grievous' faith in Battle droids was restored.
"That's weird," the droid suddenly said, "the command ship hadn't even patched me through yet."
And that faith was quickly gone.
Finally, the blast doors had opened completely. From the other side of the last set of doors, however, there came a loud thud as something that sounded suspiciously like a body hit the metal doors. Right on cue, they opened and both Grievous and the droid looked down as an unconscious Zygerian fell out. They then looked back up and into the bridge; Grievous half expecting to see another pirate, but no. instead he saw what seemed to be the Zygerians fighting it out with one of their own slaves.
He wondered why they didn't simply use the shock collar fitted around the slave's neck to incapacitate them. Then he spotted the controller for the collar held tightly in the slave's hand, and knew why.
"I wonder who that is," said the droid by his side.
"Quiet." Grievous replied.
"Roger roger."
The general walked in, unnoticed by both the conscious and unconscious Zygerians and their slave, who was about to dispatch the last of the slavers with a punch to his face. The slave's well-toned arm drew back, the fingers curled into a fist. But just as they were about to punch the Zygerian, Grievous grabbed the slave's wrist in his right hand, stopping the punch in its tracks. The slave seemed unfazed, though, as she instead drop-kicked the Zygerian in the head. Grievous was surprised, to say the least.
And then he blinked in confusion. She?
The slave whirled around to face General Grievous, her eyes flashing indignantly. Barely registering his actions, Grievous found himself releasing his grip from her wrist, which she snatched away from him and flexed her clawed fingers. Now, Grievous could see the slave properly, and what he saw stunned him.
The slave was a female Kaleesh.
Aaaand that's it for Chapter 2. Thanks for reading!
No – I didn't mean for it to take so long to get here – that's on me; I'm terrible with schedules and planning (sometimes, at least). But on the bright side, guess who's made an appearance in the story! Who's looking forward to the next chapter?!
So until next time, stay safe everyone!