Celegians are rotationally symmetric with eyes pointing in every direction, but Kuallue is only interested in one of those directions: toward the hangar mouth, from which a shuttle is approaching them. On this shuttle is General Grievous, the one who slaughtered Uyuo and his son. The doors behind them have been sealed, so there shouldn't be any chance of escape.
At long last, he shall be brought to justice by a waiting army containing multiple platoons of clone troopers, auto-turret defenses and manually operated E-Webs to boot. They have made sure to stock up as many ion weapons and EMPs as they can, which should disable him without killing. Of course, Grievous will try something, but given the astronomical odds that he will face in this hangar, it will almost certainly involve a fake surrender. Kuallue can sense the danger that is coming, but he can't fathom how they would be unable to conquer it. Even if they can't take him alive, they'll at least make sure to blast him into oblivion. Every single gun and every single eye is trained on that shuttle.
Suddenly, Kuallue realizes that is a huge mistake, and that it is already too late. The attack comes not from the shuttle, but from behind them. There is no malicious intent that he can sense, so the sudden assault of thermal detonators hurled at the crowded Republic forces must have been brought on by droids.
If he'd been prepared, Kuallue could have thrown them off course, but they instead demolish the swaths of unsuspecting clone troopers. He and Takel, standing near the front of the group, are surprisingly unharmed, and he realizes why a moment later, when one of the droids leaps into the area. Right next to them is an E-Web, whose two clones are dispatched in tandem by the two vibroblades held by this incredibly nimble droid. Clearly, the droid wanted to leave the gun intact in order to man it and turn it against the survivors.
Just before the droid annihilates them both with the heavy repeating blaster, Kuallue throws it out of the way with the Force. Unfortunately, he is the only one with any successful efforts against the droid ambush.
Around him, two other E-Webs have been taken by droids, who have turned them upwards to target the ceiling-mounted anti-vehicular turrets. A fourth droid is slaughtering clones with deadly blaster fire, and all of the cover that the clones had set up is oriented in the wrong direction. Their triumph has turned to disaster, and when Grievous finally jumps out of the shuttle, only Kuallue is paying him any attention. B2s jump out behind him, but he hardly seems to need them as he activates twin lightsabers and charges forth.
Kuallue activates his repulsorlift just in time to sidestep the eneral's charge, and while Takel tries to dive to safety, he suffers a cut across the back while Grievous runs past. The cyborg general doesn't make any effort to turn around and finish either of them off. In the span of about two seconds, Grievous clears the entire hangar, sprinting at the remaining clones, and killing half a dozen. He then gets to the door and stabs both his lightsabers into it, cutting open a hole by which to escape.
Twice now, Kuallue has survived only because Grievous has been in such a rush to run that he has ignored him, rather than going for a kill. It seems strange for someone who hates Jedi as much as Grievous, but apparently, he has other goals that are taking priority. Perhaps, Grievous doesn't think of Kuallue as a real Jedi. Kuallue uses debris from the detonators to shield himself from an onslaught by the B2s, and he spots Takel, apparently still alive, firing at the droids with his blaster pistol. Most of his shots bounce off the armor, but one very well-aimed one hits the photoreceptor of one of the droids, disabling it.
Kuallue topples another with debris, but four remaining droids just keep marching towards him, and he narrowly shoves aside a wrist rocket.
A few of the remaining clones finally aid him, using their more powerful blaster rifles to down two of the droids. The B2s then turn their blasters away from Kuallue and at the clones, which allows him to gather strength for a more powerful telekinetic blast, smashing the last two droids into one another, finally securing the hangar. However, they never destroyed all of the strange droid infiltrators who got the drop on them. Only one of the four got blasted apart by one of the turrets, while the other three seemed to have escaped with Grievous.
By comparison, only four clones survived the carnage, plus Kuallue and the injured Takel. Two of the clones limp over to the droid remains, remarking, "Looks like one of those Infiltrator-series droids. I've never seen so many at once: They're supposed to be rare."
Takel moans, "There's three more… plus Grievous on… on the run." Kuallue tries to give him a calming feeling through the Force, but he doesn't have time to do any healing. Takel is right: They have to pursue.
Kuallue orders as much to the two remaining healthy clones, as well as anyone else that he can get the attention of nearby. Among those listeners are, of course, Djinn Altis and his companion, but it seems like they already have a decent idea of what's going on. Earlier, Kuallue had little interest in Djinn's meddling because this battle is not the time for philosophy.
But now, they need all the help they can get. Grievous is loose, and the Infiltrator droids beside him pose a formidable challenge as well. If they can just defeat him, everything else should fall into place, and he can worry about arguing philosophy and ethics with Djinn later.
Grievous isn't hard to track: Even if it weren't for the clones giving him reports from their superiors who have been looking at the security cameras, the ferocious cyborg leaves a very unsubtle trail of destruction that includes lightsaber cuts against the floor and walls, blaster scorching, and lots of dead bodies. He can't hide, but he sure can run.
Meanwhile, Kuallue's chase quickly groups up with Djinn Altis, who runs alongside a Muun Jedi with a yellow lightsaber. "It's good to see you again, Kuallue," his old friend greets.
"I'm Nan Latourain; it's nice to meet you," the other Jedi introduces.
Kuallue brushes aside the pleasantries, telling the two Jedi that they need to focus on the task at hand and catch General Grievous.
Djinn nods, but counters, "You won't succeed unless you open your mind up to the will of the Living Force."
Kuallue would love to counter with an explanation of how the Potentium is only a tool, but he knows that doing so now would only invite further frivolous debates. Therefore, he just responds with a simple affirmative.
Djinn raises an eyebrow skeptically and presses, "What is the Force asking from you right now?"
Kuallue responds with the simple, obvious answer: That they need to kill Grievous.
Djinn shoots back almost immediately, "I think that's what you're telling yourself."
Kuallue accelerates his repulsorlift a bit, but the aged Jedi still keeps up just fine. He can see Latourain showing some uncertainties of her own. Clearly, she shares Djinn's skepticism towards his philosophy, but unlike the human, he can sense an eagerness about her, an urgency to complete her duty.
Kuallue asks if the Force is even worth obeying if it suggests anything other than taking advantage of this opportunity to capture the greatest mass-murderer that the galaxy has seen in a millennium. Baked into his rhetoric is an unspoken admission that they both immediately recognize: Kuallue isn't asking the Force for guidance.
Sadiya has shown him a new way, one in which he can draw on the Potentium as a tool but not become bound to any of the rules that would hold him back. It's a position too radical even for the Altisians, and he can't fully articulate it in such an urgent moment.
"It looks like Grievous is making a run for our sensor array," one of the clones announces, pulling up a holographic map.
"Can we catch him?" Latourain immediately asks.
"Probably not before he gets there," replies the clone, "Unless the guards already stationed there can put up a better fight than we expect, I wouldn't count on defending it. But we might be able to cut off and surround them once they're inside."
Losing the Kalpana's sensors will be a financial blow to the Republic, but this battle should be well enough in hand that it doesn't allow any Separatists to escape. Their gunners can still shoot based on good old-fashioned line of sight. It will be especially worthwhile if Grievous's focus on destroying them will allow them to trap him. Ultimately, it's only a matter of time before they can defeat him on a ship with this many personnel. Even if he steals a ship, that just takes him back to where he started: They can shoot him down or hold him in a tractor beam.
Kuallue briefly notes the diminishing power on his tank, down to twelve percent and draining quickly due to the heavy repulsorlift use over the past few hours. He shouldn't need it for much longer, though. It takes only a few more minutes to surround Grievous and his droids, who've gone into a sensor relay room with only two entrances and exits. "I'll head around the left," Latourain announces, "Kuallue and Djinn, you can guard the right entrance."
As the Jedi split up, each bringing about half of clones behind them, they keep a careful eye out for the Infiltrator-series droids this time. Kuallue isn't about to make that same mistake twice, but now, it seems like the Separatists are sticking together. He'd prefer to have a wider swath than the three or four squads of clones behind him in order to ensure that they don't have a repeat of the disaster in the hangar. Apparently, there aren't that many troopers available. He'll probably have some choice words with the captain once this is all said and done.
Kuallue trails behind Djinn as they approach the opening, letting his old friend keep his orange-hued lightsaber in front of both of them. He can sense Nan's approach telepathically, allowing the three Jedi to synchronize their attacks. The clones have their blasters carefully aimed, and they at last jump around the corner to see the carnage unleashed by Grievous.
Without preamble, Kuallue grabs some of the smashed parts that Grievous has left scattered about around them, and he launches them at the cyborg General. Grievous quickly leaps out of the way, activating a pair of lightsabers in midair. Meanwhile, blaster fire from the droids is unleashed from all angles. One is climbing around on the ceiling, busy with using its drill to damage some of the equipment, while another on Kuallue's left positions itself to shoot at Kuallue with one arm and Nan with the other.
Djinn blocks both during the process of an acrobatic leap to put himself between Kuallue and the droid, while Grievous lands on the rafters of the ceiling. The clones begin pouring into the chamber to try to get a better angle to fire on the general, but the move puts them away from the protection provided by Djinn. Meanwhile, Nan looks occupied by a droid that's getting up in her face, swinging vibroblades and using a shield to block her lightsaber.
Even as blue laser blasts fill the chamber, the droids' shields have little difficulty with them, and Grievous pounces into a group of clones, whose crowd of bodies makes it difficult for Kuallue or Djinn to engage him. Their target's own white armor almost blends in with their allies, but his lightsabers most certainly do not, and Kuallue throws something at him, only for his enemy to quickly slice it up.
As Djinn approaches the Infiltrator-series droid, Kuallue sends him a quick telepathic suggestion that he try to defeat it by luring it to walk into an explosive, as he did to destroy the droideka on the Venture. But Kuallue doesn't have time to see if Djinn is able to implement that strategy, since his focus is on Grievous.
The general took a few hits from blaster bolts while slaying more than a dozen clones, but he only has a few scorch marks. Grievous's feet are too well-magnetized to make him vulnerable to direct telekinesis, but Kuallue has been planning counters to this for a while: When one clone throws a thermal detonator at his suggestion, Kuallue gathers up all of his anger and unleashes a power blast of telekinesis right above the general. Just as he does so, Grievous spots the detonator and leaps up away from it, only to be swept away by the almighty Potentium. He is violently smashed into the corner of the room before falling in a heap.
But even this serves only to slow him down. To Djinn, to Nan, to the clones, to himself, and to the Potentium itself, Kuallue demands with every ounce of will within him that they strike mercilessly and finish the job against the cornered murderer, the one who ruined his life.
Debris flies as Grievous tries to get up, collapsing upon him, but he shrugs it off and slices away the big chunks. But it continues to slow him down and keep him backed up, allowing Nan to cartwheel into view, and she forces Grievous into a sequence of parries with his left hand.
In the meantime, the clones unleash all nine hells of Corellia, peppering Grievous with azure blaster fire as tossing a trio of detonators. Again, when Grievous tries to leap away, he finds himself hemmed in by telekinetic blasts. Nan herself barely avoids a massive explosion, but Kuallue barely notices.
More blaster fire finds its target, and scorched armor begins to crack open. They're so close this time, and Kuallue can at last see Grievous's servomotors moving much slower than usual as he tries to pressure Nan away from the corner. One of the droids steps in the way, using its shield to protect Grievous, but it can't hold up for long against such firepower. Within a few seconds, it is annihilated by yet another thermal detonator, which overloads its shield.
Kuallue keeps going, reaching out telepathically to his enemy now, wanting desperately to feel Grievous's end in the same way that he felt the end of Uyuo and his son.
He pulls at the damaged husk of the sensor array to Grievous's left, a massive contraption that has been rendered thoroughly useless by Grievous's sabotage and by collateral damage of the battle. The size doesn't matter because it is his will that it be brought down upon Grievous. Even as Nan duels him, Kuallue yanks with every bit of his will, furiously clenching his curled tentacles as he envisions its collapse.
Nan darts out of the way with a burst of Force-enhanced speed, but Grievous has no such luck. He stumbles and falls, careening forward just in time for three quarters of his body to get crushed by an avalanche of durasteel. Only his neck and head stick out from beneath the pile, but Kuallue can feel Grievous's presence in the Potentium, faint and distant but still alive. He approaches in awe, ready to at last bring this mission to its end, letting Djinn and the clones handle the last droid.
With Nan beside him, he proclaims to the fallen villain that this is all his reign of terror will ever amount to, a flash the terrified the galaxy for one horrible year before justice could be dealt. Grievous doesn't seem to have any response, like his soul is already beginning to depart his dying body. Kuallue can barely even feel his… strange optimism?
Something is very wrong.
He demands Nan that she finish him, but she hesitates. Perhaps there is value in interrogation, or perhaps she just feels squeamish about killing someone so helpless. Under any other circumstances, Kuallue would too.
But not right now. Not with how much is at stake. Not with how many times a seemingly defeated Grievous has fought on and miraculously evaded capture. Not with the strange confidence that Kuallue feels from him. He has to act, and he does. Before Nan even realizes what is happening, Kuallue telekinetically pulls the blade from her hand and mashes its activation switch with the Potentium. Yellow light ignites in between three of them, then swings down to cut directly through Grievous's exposed neck. Kuallue opens himself to feel the joyous current of the Potentium restored to its proper state…
But nothing changes.
Nan gets her hand back on her lightsaber, but once she opens her mouth to admonish Kuallue, it stays open in shock. "He is…" Kuallue turns his eyes to where she looks, to where the neck was severed. There is no blood, no cauterized wounds, and no flesh of any kind. There are only wires running through the neck. This is not a cyborg at all, but rather a droid.
It is not the real General Grievous.
He has failed. All of his own efforts have once more come just short. He wishes he could just destroy this whole planet if that were what it took to finally ensure that Grievous would finally die. Otherwise, it seems that no matter where he goes and how furiously he attacks, Grievous is always somehow elsewhere, slithering away to safety.
Djinn walks over, triumphant against the last droid, and looks at what has unfolded. "He's a decoy," Nan murmurs, her voice wrought with frustration. Djinn nods his head and looks at Kuallue. It had felt so right to pursue, but all it has left him with is a few destroyed droids. Perhaps this is what Djinn meant when he advised Kuallue to listen to the Force. He wonders if it's crazy to consider the possibility that the old Jedi might have known that this Grievous was a decoy and obscured it from Kuallue to prove a point.
He tells them now that they need to focus all of their efforts on figuring out where the real Grievous is, but he can feel a growing skepticism as they consider their response.
Before they can say anything, a hologram of Admiral Dorain appears on the datapad within his tank. "Commander Kuallue, I can see you finally resolved your troubles with Grievous?"
Kuallue quickly types "Unfortunately not" with a combination of tentacles and telekinesis on his datapad and sends it to the bridge. It's an awkward way of communicating, but telepathy over long distances, especially to someone he hardly knows, is even more difficult.
"Can he hear us?" Nan asks, then explains "We eventually surrounded and defeated them, but they used a decoy." Kuallue's transmitter indeed has an audio input, so he conveys to her his appreciation.
Dorain nods, "I've been keeping my eye on the cams. But at the end of the day, whether Grievous is dead or not, there's still a ground army we have to deal with that's gathering around Selbar." Kuallue can hear a vague hint of frustration, with the implied annoyance over the loss of their sensors, but the Admiral is too professional to critique them directly.
"What are High General Keldon's orders?" Nan asks to Kuallue's surprise. He fully expected Altis and his companion to focus more on the ethics of Kuallue's own philosophy. Apparently, they're willing to set that aside for a bit, which is wise.
Dorain frowns, explaining, "We have none. I fear she may have perished during our sabotage of their shields."
Kuallue spins his massive head back and forth in the closest Celegian approximation of a head shake. He tells the two Jedi that he can sense her still alive. Djinn relays, "Kuallue can still sense her."
"She may be unable to send a communication, then, being stuck behind their lines," Dorain suggests before inquiring, "Do you have any idea what she wants to do?"
Somehow, Kuallue has been given near-complete control of this task force now. He can really say whatever he wants here, but he makes sure to reach out to Sadiya. Not because he owes anything to her, but because she truly has a great deal of wisdom in this field. Her response back is one of uncertainty and fear. He isn't exactly sure what to make of it, so he just conveys to Nan that Sadiya wants them to make sure that they protect themselves in order to ensure that the now half-blind Kalpana doesn't have anything crazy happen to it.
He also advises that they request aid from the three other Acclamator-class assault ships that are higher in orbit, guarding hyperspace exit points. Moving them would make other parts of the continent vulnerable to any invasion fleet, but as long as they mop up quickly before returning to their posts, it should be acceptable.
After Nan repeats the advice, Dorain nods. "That seems wise, especially considering some other troubling news that I've got. I haven't wanted to distract you from your hunt for Grievous, but you should know that there are more Infiltrator-series droids, and some of them started a prisoner break. Four droids and a dozen prisoners have been storming through our aft. I suspect they may be targeting the communication systems."
Kuallue types out "I will go to the bridge." It seems like the only option, since he's too low on power to go on any more drawn-out chases or ground battles, and he'll be needed to relay messages if the communications have problems.
"We'll be waiting for you. I would then request your friends to handle either the ground battle or the rest of these saboteurs," Dorain states, expressing some uncertainty as to whether he has the authority to command the two newcomers.
Regardless of their ranks, Nan quickly nods and states, "I will head down to the surface and plan to ensure our army can handle the real Grievous."
Djinn seems uncertain, like he would much rather stay with Kuallue, but he eventually nods and says, "I'll do my best to handle the saboteurs, then. Seeing how I've already got my lightsaber out…"
"Thank you. The clones should be able to help escort you," Dorain explains, his holographic arm gesturing to a white-armored trooper who has been watching from behind Kuallue.
As Djinn stands up to leave, he wishes to them, "May the Force be with us all."
It takes Kuallue several minutes to take his tank over to a small tram, which then takes him and his clone trooper guides toward the center of the mammoth ship, significantly faster than sneaking around the Venture. His son was always fond of both trains and spaceships, so this would've been quite an exciting time for him getting to be on both at once.
After that, they take a turbolift up to the bridge, and in the meantime, Kuallue does his best to update his high general on what has happened. With him being the more natural telepath, it's easier for him to send detailed messages to her than the other way around.
In response, he begins to feel that her confusion is gone, and it is replaced by warning. She is trying to tell him something very specific, but between the distance that separates them and the waves of emotion flooding over Kuallue, it's hard to parse what specifically she is conveying.
He wishes that she could just spell it out clearer, like he does, but she can't. She doesn't truly embrace the Potentium like she thinks. She is so consumed by fear and hatred that she is losing all level-headedness and calm that is needed for something as delicate as telepathy.
All he can understand is that somehow, she seems to think that Grievous is tricking him. Perhaps she doesn't realize what already happened and is trying to warn him about the battle that has passed. But when Kuallue arrives on the bridge, he learns quickly that her warning was about something else: Dorain announces, "There's a Munificent-class frigate that has taken off above Selbar!"
In all the distraction, and with all the damage to their sensors and possibly comms, nobody was worried about Selbar, the place where Grievous has been this whole time. But even if they can't sense it, they can still see it with something as brute-force as camera feeds, which shows the vessel departing from below them.
It's beginning to head east over the city, opposite the direction of the Kalpana, which went west to pursue the shuttle. It's a valiant effort at a ruse, but ultimately, no ship would ever be so blind as to let an entire frigate sneak away from the battle.
Kuallue ignores all the chatter and frantic shouts from the officers below them as he floats toward the front of the ship. This is the only part that matters now. He orders telepathically to every last man aboard this ship to focus on nothing more than firing all guns at that frigate which is trying to sneak away. Without sensors, it's a little tricky, but a Munificent makes for quite a large target. The stalemate has come to an end, and now the final destruction begins. Kuallue watches eagerly as the blue laser blasts that shall finally decide the outcome of this battle descend.