SOULMATE

Chapter 4 – Developments

Greetings!

So guess what? I've got a lot more ideas for other stories in my head! The real challenge is seeing whether or not I'll get down to writing them. Also, this story is now about a hundred and fifty-odd pages long.

Before we get on with the chapter, let me just apologize for having spelt "Zygerrian" wrong; I only just found out it's spelt with two "r's", not one.

Man, this is gonna be a long one.

For the second time in the space of a few minutes, a spike of pain lanced through Grievous' head and his face twisted into a grimace. The female Kaleesh – Ronderu – noticed his eyes narrow and heard a soft hiss of pain from under the mask this… cyborg wore. He drew back, though, before she could make another grab for the controller. Grievous straightened up and turned his gaze down to Ronderu.

"Get up." He ordered her.

Grudgingly, she complied and got to her feet, eyeing him with distaste.

"You know who I am," she began, "so what's your name, cyborg?"

"I am General Grievous," he growled to her.

"Grievous?" She echoed, folding her arms, "That's not much of a name."

"I didn't ask for your opinion," he muttered, "Ronderu."

"Sorry about that, Grievous," was Ronderu's sniffy reply.

"You will call me General." Grievous informed her coldly.

"I see we're not on a first-name basis," she commented loud enough for Grievous to hear.

In response, he shot a glare at her from over his shoulder. Ronderu watched as he approached one of the unconscious Zygerrians – there were dead ones, too, but Ronderu wasn't going to be the one to tell Grievous that. Grievous picked him up in his left hand, his claw-like fingers closing around the Zygerrian's jaw before proceeding to slam him into the wall. That woke him up.

And almost instantly, his hands flew to the mechanical claws gripping him by the face, tying to pull it off or at the very least ease the strain on his head and neck.

"W-what is going on?" He gasped out, "The pirates – !"

"Have been dealt with, Zygerrian," Grievous cut across. "Now tell me which one of you is the envoy."

Though the Zygerrian did not respond to the question, his eyes stayed to one body that lay on the floor, the head twisted at an unnatural angle. Grievous looked from the body to the Kaleesh. Ronderu said nothing, only raised her eyebrows, the message she conveyed was clear; He's dead. What do you want me to do about it? Grievous scowled irritably. Thanks to her, his mission was as good as failed. But then a thought struck him and he turned slowly to look at the Zygerrian sideways.

The Zygerrian, meanwhile, had laid his eyes on Ronderu and his face twisted with anger while he bared his teeth.

"You!" He spat, "Filthy slave – I'll have your head for this!"

"Not if he has yours first," Ronderu replied, having suddenly noticed the feral air from Grievous.

"What?"

Thinking it was a bluff, the Zygerrian's attention nonetheless returned to General Grievous and he felt a sudden shiver of fear run down his spine as he looked at the mask and, behind it, those evil reptilian eyes. He stared uncomprehendingly as the General reached for something clipped to the back of his hip. He withdrew a roughly tube-like object that he held in his right hand. The Zygerrian immediately recognized what it was, though.

It was a lightsaber.

"What – ?" He stammered.

Grievous ignited the lightsaber, a blue-tinged energy blade springing from it. The cyborg drew his hand back, the blade pointed straight at the Zygerrian. Ronderu couldn't help but watch with a sort of detached fascination.

"No no – please – ! No!"

But his cries fell on deaf ears. The blade jabbed forwards and the smell of burning flesh soon reached Ronderu's nose. The Zygerrian's voice stopped and after a moment, his body dropped to the ground.

Ronderu looked from the body back to Grievous. He stood with his back to her, but she didn't make any move towards him – partly because he still held the activated lightsaber in his hand, its blade humming. But it was also because she was apprehensive. Something about this General Grievous seemed… wrong, somehow, but she wasn't sure what it was. There was something unnatural about him.

But then the moment passed, though, as the lightsaber's blade withdrew and silence descended on the bridge once again. Grievous turned back to Ronderu, his eyes cold.

"You are coming with me," he growled to her.

Ronderu didn't even try to hide her scowl.

The General noticed and his eyes narrowed in response. He didn't say anything until she had walked up to the door, having reluctantly following him, when Grievous suddenly rounded on her and grabbed her by her throat and drove her against the doorframe. She snarled at him, her hands reflexively grasping at his arm that pinned her back. But she couldn't pry the robotic hand off, and her struggles only resulted in his strong, metal fingers squeezing tighter against her throat. All of a sudden, she couldn't help but remember the Zygerrian that had been mercilessly killed not so long ago.

"You should count yourself lucky, Ronderu," he hissed at her through his mask.

"Lucky?!" Ronderu gasped for breath, "Because now you've decided you're going to be mynew master, is that it?"

"No. Lucky because it seems you are going to live to fight another day," Grievous leered before he broke off, coughing into his fist.

Ronderu grimaced at the noise. The hacking coughs made her want to get as far away as was possible from it. Her claws tightened around Grievous' arm as she winced. True, the General was more droid than anything, but his coughs made it sound as if there was someone behind all that metal. At the same time, however, it made her feel as if there was an invisible hand tightening around her chest and crushing the breath from her. Ronderu struggled to inhale, and in a last-ditch effort to free herself, hooked the claws of her feet around his arm and yanked it down. The General was forced to drop her and she fell to the ground coughing as she caught her breath.

Grievous himself had recovered from his own coughing fit and felt a sudden, unexpected leap of panic as he saw Ronderu breathing shakily from where she had fallen. What's wrong with her? He thought with worry. This time as he reached down to pull her to feet, he hesitated – an action that fortunately went unnoticed by her – but gripped her upper arm and lifted her up.

"Follow me," he told her as he released her arm.

He didn't bother waiting for a response from her, but turned abruptly and set off the way he had come from, his cape billowing behind him. Ronderu was pushed after Grievous by the Battle droid which followed her closely. She walked after the cyborg General rather numbly, unsure as to why she had felt so… breathless just then. She dismissed her thoughts, however, as they reached the corridor leading to the airlock and began to wonder about escaping. But as they started down the corridor, she caught the acrid tang of smoke in the recycled air and saw the telltale signs of blaster fire in the scorch marks along the walls and the bodies of an assortment of species moved out of the way.

Looking between the bodies, Ronderu saw that some of the bodies had been cut in half or stabbed – the hole going right through them – most likely courtesy of General Grievous. Stepping through the airlock, they entered the pirates' ship and were joined by more droids. Some of them were regular Battle droids while others were hardier, more mobile Commando droids. Both groups fell in step behind her and Ronderu muttered a curse under her breath.

How was she supposed to escape now?!

Hey everyone! Thanks for reading!

I would also like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I just hope the next year will be better than this one, huh?

And that's all I have to say for now – so until next time, stay safe!