The decision to use their artillery on the Valmin Water Treatment Facility had not been an easy one, but it was ultimately one that Grievous, WanThir, and LilVas had agreed to together.
The logic was simple: They could take it back by force, costing probably dozens of Babteer Pil and hundreds of droids, or they could spare all casualties by simply blowing the whole thing up. Taking the facility intact would have been ideal, but the Republic would be almost certain to sabotage everything on their way out. Trying to prevent that was just not feasible, despite Grievous's initial hopes to find a way. It sealed the fates of all the Meerians inside, including a squad of soldiers who were probably already dead, and the civilian workers who had probably surrendered. The Republic didn't try to use them as hostages; no demands were ever sent.
The deaths are one thing, but the loss of filtered water is an incredible blow, and it was sealed basically as soon as the Republic troopers climbed out of the well, before any of them ever heard about the attack. The only thing that Grievous or WanThir could have done better would have been to station a more formidable defense at Valmin before the attack started. Such preemptive defenses are now the concerns at the forefront of everyone's minds, including Grievous, WanThir, and even B9-Z4, who is lately almost always shut down in order to conserve precious power.
But until one of them figures out a new weak spot that needs defenders, the only thing left is to try to melt away their sorrows by watching the latest in beezfitrar. It's a new day for the Selbar Babteer, whose last chance to secure a division championship postseason appearance is to beat their rivals in Liznob Bot.
The usual crew of Separatist leadership is crowded around the holoprojector, with Grievous, WanThir, and LilVas all engrossed in the game. Even the Sullustan Captain Mu leaves his grounded battleship Venture to check out the action, although he's a bit more aloof than the rest of them. They'll have their strategic meetings later tonight, but much of it hinges on what is found in the rubble of Valmin. If the engineers can't build some sort of large-scale filtration system from either parts on hand or what they salvage, then they need to be planning some sort of urgent action before their water tanks run out.
Perhaps if water runs out in a week, we might as well splurge on power, since that was last projected to run out in two weeks, Grievous muses. Even in the most luxurious parts of the Demask, it is completely unheated and dimly lit in order to stretch out that two weeks as long as possible.
The general himself is in better condition now, out of the medcenter at long last with most of his life support restored. The biggest problems now are his currently detached cybernetic legs, which allegedly function when commanded electronically, but they have no way to interface with his nervous system. So, the paraplegic General sits aboard a repulsor-chair borrowed from Babteer Pil. Meerians are quite sensitive about their diminutive stature, so they often employ such devices in order to ascend to the eye level of offworlders. Now, they're seen as a largely unaffordable luxury, only allowed for those who need them like the elderly and disabled.
Grievous's chair is off, its legs extended to turn it into something roughly resembling a normal chair. He is also still missing his right arm, but he hasn't needed it for much lately. He can write and maneuver his chair left-handed, although he doesn't even need to do either of those things currently.
All that there is for him to do is lean slightly forward with anticipation as the Babteer approach the mesram for a key peetrat dal. It's still early in the game, but gaining a meter on this play would go a long way towards maintaining possession of the ball and giving them a long-term advantage in the currently scoreless game.
LilVas and even WanThir rise to their feet, making a few of those strange hand signals that Meerians seem to like. Mu looks over to Grievous as if to figure out if the fellow offworlder has any clue, but Grievous pays him no attention. "Nothing fancy, just get the meter," WanThir murmurs nervously. LilVas gives a response in their own language.
The biggest Selbar and Liznob Bot players all line up near the ball, prepared for what is almost certain to be a straightforward battle of physical strength. Indeed, once the play begins, both lines of bodies collide into a large pile, right near where it began. They strain against one another, pushing with all their might and trying to get underneath the other, but neither can gain more than a few centimeters of ground. The ballcarrier, still upright, is enveloped by the stationary horde, and a few seconds later, the officials blow a horn to indicate the play's conclusion.
"He didn't make it, did he?" asks WanThir to the group in faint hope that they might have seen something he didn't.
"Blast!" exclaims LilVas, who plops back down into her seat, dejected. WanThir follows in short order, shaking his head.
"So, we end the possession with a pim?" the palti suggests, still visibly upset at the team's failure. It would be a shame to surrender such a valuable possession. That would be like…
"I've seen enough of the pim today," Grievous announces, balling one of his fists in frustration.
"What, you saw the game this morning? I thought you were at-" WanThir begins before Grievous cuts him off.
"We did a pim against the Republic today," Grievous explains. "We surrendered the chance to possess a valuable building in exchange for robbing our opponents of a strategically advantageous position on the battlefield, thus ensuring that we do not risk losing something greater."
WanThir chuckles, "I think you're finally starting to get it, General. But in this case, I think both pim are necessary to avoid giving Liznob Bot the early momentum."
"Necessary isn't the same thing as exciting."
WanThir may not be wrong, but it would definitely be more exciting if these Babteer could go out and gamble once in a while to accomplish something. Neither WanThir nor LilVas seem to have a counterargument to that line of thought, although as natives to Selbar, they probably care about this winning a lot more than Grievous does.
Mu breaks the silence by suggesting, "Grievous, if you want excitement, maybe you'll need to find that on the battlefield. With our water supply damaged, we won't have much longer to hide out here."
LilVas is, of course, the first to object, countering, "Let's not waste the water that you brought us and wait this out. There's still a chance of further Separatist reinforcements arriving, right General?"
Grievous gives a one-shoulder shrug. "There's a chance of anything. But without secure communications, any news from Harloen is really just rumors. For now, there is little to lose by waiting." Thanks to the data from the Obroa-skai raid, there also may be the possibility of bypassing Harloen using an alternative route, but it would be taxing on the ships to go through the Crombach Nebula in one jump. When they dropped out in the Bandomeer system, they would be low on fuel and with worn-down shields, vulnerable to Sadiya's fleet until they could recharge. If it were up to Grievous, he might request the ships take that risk anyway, throwing themselves onto the Republic fleet in order to distract it and allow for his own escape. Except, I can't make that order without secure comms.
"Tens of thousands are dying due to disease, poison, and malnourishment as we speak!" WanThir objects, raising a finger at Grievous. "Don't speak of my people's lives with such levity!" He's so naïve. And yet… I cannot succeed without the support of the Meerians. He is needed.
"Of course, palti. But millions more will live under Republic tyranny should we fail. Was it not just a few days ago you wanted me to be less aggressive and more patient?" Grievous counters. He'd rather be more confrontational, but with morale no doubt plummeting amongst the Meerians, he simply can't afford to do so.
WanThir nods, "You're right, of course. But the loss of water has dramatically tipped the scales. It's one thing to pim in a tie game as the Babteer will no doubt do, but it's another to pim when you're badly losing, like we are now." Captain Mu tilts his head, perhaps a bit confused by the metaphor.
Skeptically, LilVas asks, "Are you suggesting we need to try a full-on escape right away?"
"I'm suggesting nothing," WanThir replies, holding his hands up as if defending himself. The palti really does have a hard time sticking with any ideas.
"We should just… keep our minds open," WanThir suggests, looking for approval from the other three strategists. Mu gives him a subtle nod.
It is Captain Mu who also finally breaks the silence by suggesting, "Perhaps it is time to send a signal to our Infiltrator droids? If they yield results, we can take further actions."
I had almost forgotten about those. The Infiltrator droids were exceedingly rare, one of the most expensive and highly specialized models offered by Colicoid Creation Nest. Equipped with silence-bubble generators and holographic image disguisers, they are one of the stealthiest droids ever designed, and they are highly skilled in sabotage.
During the initial space battle over Bandomeer, fourteen had managed to latch onto the hull of the goliath Praetor-class Battlecruiser called the Kalpana and subsequently burrow inside to begin wreaking havoc. Unfortunately, the battle had been lost before they could make any real impact, so when Grievous chose to hole up in Selbar, he sent a shutdown code ordering them to hide and maintain radio silence until a more opportune time.
"It has been well over a month!" LilVas objects, "They'll certainly have all been discovered and hunted down." That is certainly possible. But it's a big ship, and people tend to overlook droids.
"If so, then what's the harm in trying to activate them?" Mu counters.
The total complement of a Praetor was around one hundred thousand crew, pilots, and passengers, so even the deadly Infiltrators would be impossibly outnumbered. But given the right circumstances with sufficient distractions, they might just be able to turn the tide once the Separatists re-engaged. "The harm," Grievous answers, "is that as soon as we send any kind of message to the Kalpana, the Republic will know that we're about to try something."
WanThir nods, elaborating, "So we'll want to activate them once the battle begins, after they know we're trying something."
"If they do anything at all," LilVas reminds.
"Yes, for now, we'll have to wait for opportunities," Grievous says, trying to put on his most authoritative voice. "We may also want to take advantage of our newly condensed timescale to splurge a bit on rations. Their supply will last far longer than our water anyway."
"You think having a fuller stomach will help you?" repeats a baffled LilVas.
Grievous shakes his head and replies, "No, but if we offer additional rations to enlisted soldiers and their families, it may boost our numbers."
"Unskilled numbers do little to help us," WanThir counters, "and people who join only to get extra food will not be fully committed to our cause."
Grievous counters, "You'll just have to get better at teaching them, then. But even if not, some additional cannon fodder can drain the Republic's power packs a bit." Everyone, even Mu, is taken somewhat aback by Grievous's morbidity, but WanThir leans forward, looking determined to rise to his challenge. Good. The old man needs to get some confidence about himself.
"But we'll need more tricks than just a few extra soldiers and some Infiltrator droids if we want to overcome these odds," Grievous continues.
"More tricks like what?" LilVas asks, skeptically.
"I have a few rough ideas," Grievous replies, "and we can flesh them out at the meeting tonight. But for now, I'd like us all to take a trip to the For Peem Holotheater."
27th day of Month 15 ABG
Outside of Republic camp besh in the nearby forest, Sadiya and Kuallue have what has become a consistent daily regimen of meeting outdoors in the early morning to hone their Jedi skills. It's an unusually cold one with a dusting of snow, which is frustrating not just for the hampered mobility, but that it will allow the Separatists to collect some quantity of drinkable water and prolong the siege. None of that does anything to stop the two ex-Jedi.
Kuallue's heater is cranked up to its maximum level, but Sadiya maintains her standard training outfit of dark robes that vaguely resemble those she would've worn as a Jedi Padawan. Up until meeting one another, they've both lacked this sort of Force-sensitive company for some time. Kuallue's assignments often sent him alone, his son hadn't developed many real powers, and only rarely did Kuallue get to recuperate with other Jedi aboard the Chu'unthor. Sadiya didn't even have that, and it shows.
She brings a genuine enthusiasm to their time together, and the formalities drilled into her by the military begin to show cracks. There's no salute and no titles, just a smile and a nod with a warm, "Morning, Kuallue," as he approaches the clearing in the taiga. Camp besh is close enough for them to come to its aid in the event of a Separatist attack, but far enough away to give the two Force-users a degree of privacy as they look west toward the rising sun.
He responds somewhat grumpily that it might be a better morning if it weren't so cold. Yesterday's battle still leaves a toll on Kuallue, for it was his first real taste of the Clone Wars' front lines. He doesn't want to immediately voice that to the high general, especially since he's already given his report on the details of their mission.
"Ready?" she asks, balling her fists and putting a foot forward.
He gives an affirmative, and the game begins. It is one that Kuallue originally designed for his last apprentice, Mars LaRone, intended for them to hone one another's combat skills. Kuallue never took up lightsaber training, so with conventional sparring off the table, he would instead use telekinetically thrown objects to defend himself and attack Mars, who would counter with his lightsaber on its stun setting and try to knock them aside before landing a hit on Kuallue. Sadiya uses no lightsaber, presumably because the one on her belt lacks a stun setting. Instead, she relies on dodges to avoid the broken tree branches that he throws. She does so with incredible skill, just as effective as LaRone despite not relying on a blade.
Occasionally, she lands "blows" on the edge of Kuallue's tank via kicking or slapping it, though the wounds are only to his pride. He has had to keep the branches close to defend, throwing them out at her makes him too vulnerable. Rarely does he manage to land a hit on her, and even when he does, she generally is able to use her hands or feet to absorb the blow.
She dodges one branch by hopping over it, then ducks down such that her head dips well under his second strike. He tries to pull the branch back down onto her, but she outruns it by diving forward and grabbing onto one of his four mechanical limbs while she rolls past. It disorients him to be spun around, and his short legs struggle to step out of the snowy ground and remain underneath him. Sadiya is covered in snow and mud but pays it no mind as she lands a couple more blows on her opponent with hands and feet alike.
Frustrated, Kuallue tries to counter by quickly pulling back his branches to hit her, but she dodges again, and his throw is so hard that he can't stop one from plunking right into his own tank. Sadiya jumps up to give a high kick, and the push is enough to make the large tank begin to fall over backwards. He awkwardly has to float against the top of the tank as he tries to right it, and Sadiya watches with a smug smile before she helps him back up with a slight Force push.
"You seem frustrated," she notes, relaxing her posture a bit.
He confirms that he's disappointed to have lost so many men during the battle, and to have not expected the artillery strike from Grievous, and she nods understandingly.
"You Jedi always put so much responsibility on yourselves to save every life you can," she comments. The fact that she indicates him as a Jedi despite leaving the Order is not lost on Kuallue. It's a stark contrast from before, when she often described how they had a similar relationship to the Order. Kuallue often called himself a Jedi, while she now uses the name as an insult. But according to Master Altis, Jedi do not seek revenge. He would not have given his blessing on this mission.
There may be reconciliation in the future, but for now, Kuallue has abandoned two Jedi Orders. He asks Sadiya if she genuinely thinks of him as a Jedi.
"You've taken your first steps into embracing a broader view than the Jedi," she begins, and then pauses to consider. "but you have much to learn." She takes a few steps back and begins to ready herself for another round of their training, and Kuallue obliges by raising four branches into a shield-like formation in front of him.
He concedes that she may be right, but he asks if she has considered that the same might be true for her. She responds by leaping toward him, and she is a fraction of a second away from landing a kick from her snow-covered boot right on top of his tank before he is able to parry with a branch.
She kicks off of it and continues her momentum, landing on his other side. Celegians are circularly symmetric with no real "back," but he has to quickly move his defenses to his other side. In the meantime, Sadiya replies to his original question by explaining, "The Jedi are built around not knowing what they call the Dark side. That is called ignorance!"
She strikes at him, but he parries with the wood. "I've studied the larger view. There is no part of the Potentium I've yet to immerse myself in. And with such knowledge, look what I have reaped!"
His retort is simple and sad, that she has reaped many deaths.
"Necessary deaths," she counters, continuing to pour on pressure with her energetic attacks. "The toll is the same as what the Jedi have done in their battles. But because I am not scared of the inevitable, I can use them to accomplish things! There are thousands more Jedi than there are of me, yet not one of them has captured Grievous! Nor Ventress! Nor Durge!"
Kuallue keeps having to retreat against her attacks, which is difficult through the snow. Often, she lands a palm or boot onto the side of his bulky tank. He is at a loss. Everything about this woman screams that she violates everything he believes in, and yet she is right. She has defeated the great General Grievous. She has done what he vowed to do.
He cannot, in any circumstances, allow a philosophy that would let that monster roam free, and that is exactly what the Jedi philosophy has done. Perhaps not all the time, perhaps not in excess, but certainly sometimes, the Dark side may be necessary to do good. It is a power currently foreign to him, and he needs it. She at last lets off her offensive when he raises the question telepathically, asking what he needs to learn.
A smile emerges across her face as she sees the genuine but begrudging curiosity in his words. This is a step that he may never recover from. There may be no reconciliation with either Jedi Order anymore. To work with a Dark-sider is one thing, but to embrace it in his own abilities is another. Kuallue is rapidly approaching a point of no return. "You need to learn to use everything you have at your disposal," she responds carefully, elaborating, "The Potentium is a tool. The Light side? A tool. The Dark side? Same tool. Living, Unifying, it's all only as good as whatever you can get out of it. Your knowledge, a tool. Your love, a tool. Your hate, a tool. Your fear, a tool. Your bloodlust, a tool. Your pride, a tool. The clones, tools."
It's brutal, but it's utilitarian, and it's what has gotten her so far. It's hard to accept, but what other option is there? This battle, if won, will no doubt cost the lives of many Meerians in Selbar. Grievous will not surrender easily, because to him, the civilians supporting him are only tools. Only after many are dead will it be complete. The approach is in violation of the Jedi Code, but it is the only tool for the job.
He finally tells her that he understands and agrees. Even Sadiya may be a tool for his act of justice, but he doesn't point that out. She probably sees him the same way.
"That tree," she says, pointing to one of the larger conifers at the edge of the clearing. "Lift it." He begins to ask why, but he stops himself. He already knows what her answer would've been: Because the tree is only a tool to be used in his training.
Apparently, she knows that he knows because she doesn't reply. Kuallue takes a few steps toward the mammoth plant, which towers probably close to ten meters into the sky. It has been alive, part of this forest for many human generations, perhaps centuries. It has provided shelter for insects and avians, food for larger herbivores, and even a place for moss to grow. He senses that many young Meerians have tried to climb it over the years.
He yanks violently on its trunk, but the tree doesn't budge. The smaller branches he can manipulate and shove around, but the larger base is anchored into the ground by a massive root system. He summons all of his strength, all of his desire to win, and even, as Sadiya suggested, uses his hate as a tool. He imagines that this tree is the first step in the final defeat of Grievous, as if the cyborg himself is somehow burrowed beneath it. At last, the trunk begins to crack. He pushes off to one side, widening its wound and pulling the seam further open. "Stop!" Sadiya suddenly barks, holding a hand up in front of him.
"Not just what you can see above the ground. Pull out the stump, the roots, the whole tree!" she orders with frustration, as if talking to a disobedient child. And so, Kuallue tries again, centering his grip on the bottom part of the stump, below the fracture such that he can control the whole thing.
He yanks again, but nothing comes of it. Even with all of his hate, the tree is too strong. He explains as much to her, that its roots cling to the ground and to the root systems of the nearby trees. It is like trying to move the entire planet, he explains.
At this she nods, then muses quizzically, "So what do you do about an adversary whose tools are too strong to defeat yours?"
Kuallue thinks back to the battle from yesterday. Valmin Water Treatment Facility was a tool of Grievous, as were its workers. They had made progress in their conquest not by obtaining it, or by working harder to acquire better tools of their own, but by separating Grievous from it. They deprived the Babteer Pil of how they drew water from the ground.
The roots are the key to all of it, but they are far too deeply embedded into the ground to affect telekinetically. The only way is to reach out to them… telepathically. Many Jedi speak directly to plants. Some, like in the agri-corps, speak to many with a subtle push of encouragement, boosting vast tracts of farmlands to grant better yield than they otherwise would over the course of many months. Others could call out more dramatically to a single plant, like this tree, to control its growth and shape in a more sudden fashion. Some Jedi could grow and manipulate vines fast enough to ensnare enemies in combat.
But this is not a matter of growth. He instead reaches out with a command to die and decay, to let the roots give up their purpose and get pulled above. But the tree will not obey. It doesn't have a will as sentients do, but it is part of a broader Living Force that seeks to grow and to live, not die. It is an action against nature itself. He wills that the tree should not care about its own life. He wills it that the roots should shrivel and die, lest they be abandoned and cut off. Everything about this action feels unnatural and foreign, and the tree resists, remaining as it was.
"The great Jedi Master, who is lesser in power than a tree," Sadiya mocks, lightly chuckling.
Perhaps as a Jedi Master, he would have given up by now, but not anymore. He is the harbinger of its death. As he connects with the tree, more and more he feels that the Living Force flows into the forest, from the forest to its roots, from the massive root system up into this specific tree, and from this tree into himself.
The death that he orders is twofold. It is not just the separation of this tree from the forest, but it is the separation of himself from the Living Force. No longer will Kuallue be subject to its will. That being will die today.
What is left of Kuallue will be separated from the Force in some way, now truly a Celegian of his own will. He shall instead command the Force as his tool. As he feels excitement for what that might be like, he finds the strength to subdue one of the many roots.
There is a ripple in the Force up into the tree and to him. Its death is beginning. Distantly, he can feel Sadiya's approval. He orders not merely that it shall die, but that they shall both die and be made anew. Another root gives in and begins to loosen itself from the ground. Whatever resolve is left of the tree and of the Force is beginning to crumble. Two more give way in short order.
They are beginning to rise up now, both him and the tree alike through the Force. There are sections of root remaining, but they snap or snake themselves out of the ground quickly. A few are left behind and cut off, weaker parts that would rather die in the ground than ascend to these new heights.
As last, Kuallue looks down to see himself floating above the top of the tree, which is in turn floating several meters above the ground. The deed is done.
"Very good," Sadiya shouts from far below, "You and your handiwork can come down now!"
The tree hits the ground with a loud thump, and Kuallue takes advantage of his tank's repulsorlift to help him slowly fly down. The effort to lift the tree was exhausting but empowering. Not ever in his life has he used the Force in such a way before.
"You've proven yourself well as of late, Kuallue," she congratulates, "and I think you're ready to help take on the remaining phases in our plan." Kuallue takes several cautious steps toward his new teacher, eager to hear more. They are so tantalizingly close to victory now, but he still senses that it will not be easy. There are more tests to come. He urges her to continue, asking what exactly lies ahead.
"First, we need to strengthen our campaign against some of CIS propaganda that is taking hold of this planet. I found an article a few days ago that claimed we caused the avalanches that buried the village of Met," she explains.
Kuallue remembered hearing about her sending AT-TEs out that way to take on a large group of the Meerian rebels, so he asks her what actually happened out there. She shrugs the question aside, responding, "It's largely irrelevant. Truth and lies are all just more tools. In this case, they're tools that are being used to garner support for Grievous's army."
The old Kuallue would have objected.
Sadiya continues, "We'll need to make several arrests, the specific locations for which I can lay out later today. They're spread throughout the planet, so I don't think we'll be doing much in person, but I do need to narrow down the list of who should be silenced and who can be persuaded to keep broadcasting without supporting the Confederacy."
Kuallue nods his gigantic head and confirms telepathically that he can advise her decision-making process. It still only indirectly supports their ultimate cause of getting to Grievous, but he knows they've gotten help from smugglers supplying them on at least a couple of occasions.
"There are bigger plans coming up," she adds, pacing around across the snow, eyes darting into the trees as if looking for someone else.
"I can trust your utmost confidentiality?" she asks.
He gives an affirmative.
"Then I'm going to be giving you a key role in our final offensive. In the next week or so, we're going to need to make a decisive attack and end this conflict," she explains, lowering her voice almost to a whisper.
He asks why they can't simply try waiting for Grievous's supplies to run out, and she responds, "Time is running low. The Separatists have been desperate to send reinforcements to Bandomeer for the last month, and if they can pull it off, we'll be fighting on two fronts. We would have to mobilize the Kalpana to engage their fleet, which would let Grievous right out of Selbar." The Kalpana is one of their key advantages in the siege, a massive Praetor-class battlecruiser hovering at a low altitude just above Selbar.
Hyperspace entry points are guarded only by the much smaller Acclamators, which would almost certainly be overwhelmed by an invading fleet. But as far as Kuallue knows, the Separatists can't get any such fleet to Bandomeer because all the nearby worlds are under Republic control, save for Harloen, which is neutral and refuses to let either fleet through. He asks Sadiya if this is still the case.
"Unfortunately," she begins, "Harloen is turning into something of a disaster. The Separatists have been offering bribes to let a fleet through that we really can't match, and their government has been rather offended by the Jedi Padawan who went off on some damned-fool idealistic crusade."
He asks if they've done anything about the rogue Padawan, and she elaborates, "He disobeyed orders to come back, and since then he's been successfully evading both squads of Republic Commandos we sent after him." Kuallue feels like he doesn't really have any ground to stand on when it comes to criticizing Jedi who disobey the Order, but if he needs to be the one to track and reign in the Padawan, he tells her that he would be willing to try.
Sadiya shakes her head. "No, I sense it's too late for that. I'll keep a close eye on the situation, but we're going to have to hope that Master Allie can do a decent job of stalling. If the Separatist fleet arrives at Harloen, we'll make our move, and with luck, Selbar will be destroyed before the reinforcements arrive." Another offensive into Selbar will be costly, but if Kuallue has learned anything lately, it's that it will be necessary.
He asks if they even have enough troops to take the city, and Sadiya smiles, replying, "We shouldn't need to take the entire city, just destroy the shield generators at the center, and the Kalpana can do the rest of the work. The sabotage won't be easy, but I have a plan."
He waits eagerly for her to continue, but she once again pauses to survey the empty forest to check for any possible spies. At last, she says, "Alright, here's what we're going to do…"