Somehow, Selbar has infiltrators within it once more. Grievous doesn't exactly know how, but he suspects that it involves the chaos of the battle to the east. The more important questions for now, however, are not about how it happened. Grievous needs to know where these infiltrators are and how many there are.
WanThir, LilVas, and his decoy all left the Demask to oversee the eastern front from a closer distance, so Grievous has been trying to handle the situation on his own. The initial reports of the disturbance were of Kuallue defeating several droids before sneaking aboard the Venture. That could be an attempt to destroy supplies, but it could also be an attack on their backup shield generator, which was created by jury-rigging the Venture's shield generator to cast a wider ray shield around the city.
So far, that backup hasn't been used or even properly tested, and the Republic wouldn't know the details of their modifications. However, Keldon and Kuallue could probably make an educated guess by looking at all of the mechanic crews who have been wandering around the outside of the Venture over the past few weeks, working right where its shield projector sits.
To counter, Grievous would've liked to send reinforcements to supplement the skeleton crew aboard the Venture, but finding a source was tricky. He certainly is not keen on pulling troops away from the front lines, which would risk the Republic walkers marching down the streets of Selbar. But assuming that Kuallue's target is indeed the backup shield generator, that only matters if the primary shield is destroyed, which means that an attack on the primary generator is likely incoming as well. It is an ancient fixture of the town center and has been under constant guard by multiple groups of droids, Babteer Pil. AATs remain at the ready nearby, while towering fences prevent passerby from getting too close.
Even so, he worries it might not be enough. A few well-aimed missiles could potentially destroy it, so Grievous wants every guard in the area to maintain their patrol over the generator. Of course, there are droids in and around the Demask, but the frigate is also his main command center, a place with its own valuable data, and his largest functioning starship should they attempt an aerial retreat. All of that could make it a valuable target, too.
Begrudgingly, Grievous had been unable to send significant reinforcements to the Venture, and he has now been turning his focus toward guarding the main shield generator. Taking his lone remaining MagnaGuard, IG-124, with him, he traveled from the Demask to the town center aboard one of their airspeeders.
He's been waiting around, overseeing the patrols and searching for anything unusual for over half an hour, and it's still a seemingly normal situation. But they don't even know what to look for.
Earlier, they got news that the Kuallue seemed to have been killed in an explosion, but Grievous knows better than to assume that a Jedi would go down so easily, especially when the body wasn't found. Even more so when the ones reporting it are volunteer militia members with about a week of experience. Sadiya has yet to make an appearance anywhere, but she'll no doubt be somehow disguised if she's infiltrating Selbar personally. It would certainly be the type of job where Jedi powers could come in handy.
His patrols have all been instructed that anyone bigger than a Meerian within a half-kilometer radius of the generator is a threat, and all Babteer Pil are paired up with droids who report in frequently to ensure that there aren't any Jedi mind tricks causing problems.
So far, all they apprehended were two terrified civilians, a Svivreni and a Whiphid. After a brief interrogation, Grievous sent each on their way. Both had IDs that matched known Selbar residents, plus the former was too famished and sickly-looking to be anyone but a resident. Grievous stays close to the generator as a last line of defense, his eyes eagerly darting between the various reports. At last, he gets the major news that he was waiting for from WanThir.
"The Republic's advance at the east wall has come to a halt," his datapad reads, "and the clones have fallen back to near the edge of the cliff."
Grievous's eyes glaze over the details, including the casualty numbers and the holographic map, as he rapidly processes the information. There are some injured or killed, as reflected by the ambulances zooming past overhead, and they had lost some ground before the sudden Republic reversal. The numbers just don't seem to add up. It's an awfully conservative move to bail out on the attack at this point. The Republic fought hard and lost many but still had troops available. Yet, they'd just given up all the ground they gained basically for free. There's only one way that it would make sense. They think their objective is complete and are preparing to evacuate. Which means-
As a hologram of WanThir and LilVas emerges from his command console, Grievous orders without preamble, "WanThir, send my decoy along with two B2 squads to reinforce the Venture."
"Are you sure that's wise, General?" LilVas counters, "The Republic could still regroup and counterattack."
"That's why I'm only taking two squads. The Republic will head down the cliff shortly, and then we'll initiate Protocol Met," Grievous explains.
WanThir nods, then asks, "Do you think that one platoon and the decoy will be sufficient to handle the Jedi?"
"I'm more concerned as to whether or not it's already too late. Send them now, because I have my own shield generator to defend," Grievous orders, quickly cutting off the transmission. The Republic's retreat has to mean that they're expecting a bombardment soon, which means they'll be making their strike at the generator. Sadiya used her clone army to keep his droid and Meerian army away from the shield generator, and he used his army to keep her armies out of the city. Ultimately, the battle on the east was never going to be anything but a standstill.
The real battles are here and now, between the commanders. Sadiya versus Grievous in the city square, and Kuallue versus his decoy aboard the Venture. He's been waiting a long time for this, and he doesn't have to wait for that much longer.
The first issue is when a droid patrol to the north doesn't report in, and he immediately begins slightly rotating his forces around that way. There are too many unknowns, so he can't risk over-pursuing. He also sends a probe droid that way, which sends him a live feed of whatever it sees. So far, it seems like the streets are mostly empty.
Grievous has a hunch that Sadiya won't be so straightforward as to just come in from the north side. Somehow, this will be two-pronged, which means he needs to take IG-124 and bring his repulsorlift chair to swing around to the south side of the shield generator. As he does so, a laser blast misses just to his left, and another subsequent shot hits his MagnaGuard in the back.
"Take out that sniper!" Grievous commands as he spins around to face the direction of the shot. IG-124 steps in front of him, undeterred by his damage. They back away, trying to wrap around behind and use the generator itself as cover.
The shot came from the north, probably on the roof of one of the nearby buildings. The sniper must have been the one who killed the patrol in order to reach that spot. If Grievous stands by and does nothing, his patrols are going to get picked apart quickly.
He dials up a command on comlink built into his chair's armrest, contacting the B1 artillery commander. "Where did that shot come from?" he asks.
"Suspect was on the rooftop patio of Talnat Bar and Restaurant," the commander replies quickly.
"Destroy it."
The two anti-aircraft, anti-missile turrets beside the generator turn around to face the building to the north. It's not exactly what they're designed for, but they'll do the job. But in between the smoke and the explosions, Grievous hears something else. He spins to see past the generator, through the fence, to the southwest, where a speeder is zooming in toward them at full throttle.
It bears the style of a medical airspeeder, but it flies low with its sirens off. His cannons are pointing in the wrong direction and need reloading, which costs precious seconds as the speeder gets dangerously close to its target. Lighter blasters only dent it as it screams in, plowing through one fence before screeching to a halt at the edge of the more secure wall.
It's too close to be the range of Grievous's anti-aircraft guns, which can't bend down at such a steep angle to take it out. Fortunately, he does have other options, including an AAT that quickly begins spinning around toward the parked speeder.
He, the MagnaGuard, and a swath of battle droids close in as well, firing their blasters at it. Even Grievous gets in on the action, using his own E-5 to force a Republic Commando to take cover as the clone departs out the back of the speeder.
Suddenly, he finds his repulsor chair pulled in toward the ambulance by the Force, and he curses his temporary lack of magnetized feet. Out of the front of the vehicle, a figure in the garb of a Babteer Pil medic leaps out, activating a crimson lightsaber midair.
She bats away one shot from IG-124 at the apex of her arc, then swings the saber down at Grievous. He has barely a second to think and only one arm, but he's not completely unprepared. From beside him, he grabs a green lightsaber, activating it just in time as he holds it above his head, parrying the attack from above.
Sadiya lands behind him as she frontflips overhead, and Grievous can't turn around in time, so he reaches over the shoulder to continue a drop-parry.
Meanwhile, the clone has fallen prey to blaster fire, but Grievous's allies are reluctant to fire on Sadiya when she's so close to him. It's almost physically impossible to defend: She fights with Jedi speed, and the cheap servomotors in Grievous's backup arm are not designed to run at this speed. And even when I do set up a good defense, she can just toss me around with the Force. It's a losing battle, and Sadiya unleashes a flurry that nearly severs his one working arm. She forces him to defend on his left and is just about ready to transition into an attack that would decapitate him when IG-124 leaps into the fray, brandishing an electrostaff to get in the way of the blow and spare his general.
Suddenly, Keldon slows down her offensive, seeming a bit distracted, and Grievous can see why. On his right, an AAT that had been approaching the speeder to destroy it suddenly turns a bit to the side, as if moving over the edge of an invisible hill, and its shot goes wide. Instead of hitting the speeder, it blows a hole through the wall that the speeder was parked up against. Sadiya leaps away, darting through the newfound gap behind her, which provides cover from the droids.
Before IG-124 can chase after her, she stretches out a hand, and Grievous goes flying right into his own bodyguard, sending both of them tumbling to the ground. By the time they arise, the speeder has moved to cover the gap.
It could be a pilot moving it or it could be the Force pulling it, but it doesn't matter. "Open the gate!" he barks as he charges to try to find an opening. The speeder's open back door is lined up with the gap such that Sadiya can unload whatever explosive cargo she has on the inside, and the body of it blocks him from going in to meet her.
And almost all of my forces are stuck on the outside until we can open this kriffing gate. The few seconds that it takes to open feel like an eternity. As they enter, Grievous watches one of his turrets, its base sliced open by a lightsaber, fall down and crash into the shield generator. The shield above flickers for a second, but it holds.
But then he sees the massive bomb which Sadiya is tugging along with the Force, and he knows that it doesn't matter. Even if they can force a premature detonation, it looks big enough to destroy the generator from where it is. Grievous can't see Sadiya, but she's pulling it towards the generator with the Force.
One of their shots hits the bomb, and the area erupts into flame. Grievous closes his eyes against the bright flash, and by the time he opens them half a second later, there is no more shield above them. It's all fine as long as the backup comes online now.
He's charred, and a few droids look disabled by the blast. Even Sadiya herself might have been taken up by the truly massive detonation. The shield that protected them for so long is now gone. I've failed again.
Perhaps the backup will come online. Any second now?
Grievous sulks, staring straight up to wait for the shield to envelop them all once more. But all he sees now are turbolasers from the Kalpana above descending straight onto Selbar.
Most are to the northwest, probably targeting the Venture, the Demask, and his airfields full of vulture droids. Other blasts drop onto the battlefield at the east. At some point, the rain of laser fire will consume them all. But it takes time to destroy an entire city, and that's time they can use to evacuate and scatter. They were planning to leave Selbar behind anyway and attempt an escape.
The plans have been accelerated, but there is still a chance to see them through. First, he presses a few buttons on the chair to speak to Captain Mu, who greets him with a Sullustan curse.
Grievous couldn't care less about the pleasantries or lack thereof, so he just responds, "Captain Mu, it's time to begin our evacuation. Launch all fighters now!" The Vulture droids would be sitting ducks on the ground, and many have probably been already wasted.
"Yes, General," the captain responds, "and the Demask?"
Grievous considers his options. The Demask is his biggest ship, but it's easily outclassed by the Kalpana, and taking off now would only force a confrontation before everything else is in place. "Keep the top shields at full power and be ready to launch on my command. Grievous out," he orders before ending the communication. There's no time to worry about any questions the officer might have. Mu will listen to his commands and figure out the rest. That's all that matters.
Next up, it's time to finally activate the Infiltrator droids. That's a simple command for him to send back to the computers on the Demask, which in turn will use the frigate's more advanced communication systems to relay a well-encrypted activation code to his droids on the Kalpana, if they're still intact. The orders are simple: wreak havoc, particularly targeting their sensors and comms.
They'll need to do so and do it quickly if Grievous and his ground forces are to have any chance of survival, although he notices that there still haven't really been any turbolaser blasts near this area. He wonders if perhaps Sadiya is functioning as a living shield for him, if she ordered her ship not to bombard the city center while she's still in it. He will be more than happy to take advantage of the opportunities that her cowardice provides for him. She may not be willing to do what it takes to win, but he is.
Next up, he connects to his decoy, which, according to Chiv, has a reasonably advanced droid brain. Apparently not advanced enough to prevent a Jedi without a lightsaber from destroying our backup shield generator, though.
"Decoy, it is time to evacuate. Abandon your task and find the Sheathipede-class shuttles in the Kalpana's hangar. Use them to flee the planet with your droids for Separatist space along a vector 30 degrees west of vertical," he orders.
"Understood," the droid responds back in a voice that's just similar enough to his own to be eerie. It should be able to handle the first part of the task, but he doubts it would actually succeed in getting past the Kalpana. But the more that the Kalpana has to worry about catching shuttles, the less it will be able to focus on bombarding Selbar.
Finally, Grievous's last set of new orders will go to WanThir, whom he again summons in holographic form. This time, LilVas is nowhere to be found. She could be dead, or the two could have split, but it doesn't matter right now.
"General Grievous, I see that both generators have been destroyed," remarks the palti, who is crouched down while gesturing to some of his soldiers.
"Unfortunately, yes. I assume the Republic is now falling back away from the city?" Grievous inquires.
WanThir replies, "Of course. They're beginning to climb down the cliffside." Perfect.
"Excellent. Initiate Protocol Met."