"I have decided that it is time for me to leave this place of shelter and finally make an attack," Grievous announces. The gathering advisors all look at him with varying levels of skepticism and disapproval at the idea, and he pauses to allow them time to collect their thoughts.

In the conference room just outside the bridge of the Demask, he has a multitude of fellow strategists, leaders from the CIS armies and from Babteer Pil. They are seated in high-backed chairs around a sleek, black-painted table, on top of which is a holographic map showing the city and the Republic camp.

To Grievous's left is the strategy droid B9-Z4, one of the finest droids for military analysis that credits can buy, or so Grievous was told. It is a bulky unit with four wheels underneath for locomotion and two relatively short arms that can plug into data terminals, not unlike an astromech droid. It is painted blue, with the CIS logo in prominent view on the front. B9 is extremely forthright and quite arrogant, with no qualms about telling Grievous that he's straight-up wrong. Surely when the Separatist aristocrats like Dooku buy analysis droids for themselves, they have them programmed to be significantly more respectful.

On Grievous's right is Teun Mu, a Sullustan naval captain who has been stranded dirtside since landing the Lucrehulk-class battleship Venture, which is sitting within Selbar's shield. It took so much damage in its arrival that the Separatists deemed it a loss and cannibalized much of the ship, relocating its turbolasers to act as anti-tank guns atop the wall around Selbar, siphoning its fuel for general usage, and repurposing engine parts to repair the Munificent-class Demask.

Mu could take command of the Demask should it take off, but that seems unlikely for the near future. He hardly has anything to contribute for land battles but attends these meetings as a matter of formality since he is the highest-ranking Separatist officer behind Grievous. Despite this, he keeps his quarters on the Venture, as if still holding out vain hope that his vessel could take off again someday.

Across the table is WanThir, the Meerian general (or palti in their native language) of Babteer Pil and a grizzled military veteran with many decades of experience fighting against pirates. By far the oldest in the room, the shimmer in his skin and hair has dimmed, and both are grayish in color. He slowly turns his dark eyes from Grievous towards the person on his left.

That advisor is a younger man, TeenPat, a captain (or belrat) who is the only one who seems to actively support Grievous in his efforts. Daring and more proactive than much of his species, he has actually earned a slimmer of respect from the beleaguered cyborg. He has long, golden hair, and while contemplating, he rubs on the bit of stubble covering his chin, which seems to be quite a rare feature among the Meerians.

Finally, the last attendee sits between WanThir and B9-Z4, another one of Babteer Pil. Her name is LilVas, and she seems to have earned much respect from WanThir, who almost always asks for her advice and takes it. She lost an eye while battling some street gangs a couple decades ago, and from what Grievous can tell, that has shaped her view of warfare to become much more pessimistic and cautious than any of the rest of them, except for maybe B9.

The first to respond as B9, who states in his deep, mechanical voice, "Even controlling for whatever advantage or opportunity you think that you may have, I can assure you that this is likely a bad idea."

"We're holding up just fine," elaborates LilVas, "and there's no sense in jeopardizing our strong defensive position to throw our forces onto Republic lines." This earns a nod from WanThir, who then leans over to examine the map in further detail.

"This is a rare opportunity, however," Grievous explains. "Our holocameras have seen something interesting in the Republic camp, that High General Keldon has left their camp with only a small escort to go down Highway 83 west."

WanThir looks up from the map, asking, "Are you suggesting that we attack their camp while she is away… or assassinate her while she is unguarded?"

"Both are extremely foolish, but if I have to select the less damaging one of the two, it would be the latter," says B9, managing to use a tone that is somehow even more condescending than usual.

"The latter indeed is what I intend," Grievous explains, pressing a few buttons to zoom in on the west side of the map, "She is meeting, as far as I can tell, with a Jedi who has recently arrived on this world before venturing off in the same direction just 40 minutes prior."

This gets everyone's attention, and WanThir is the first to respond, saying, "One Jedi has caused us enough problems as is. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to outwit them if we go against two."

TeenPat furrows his brow, pointing out, "I'm not sure that more Jedi necessarily means more threat, though. Who exactly is this other Jedi? Her apprentice? An equal?"

Grievous shakes his head, explaining, "Neither, in fact. This new arrival is Kuallue, who has yet to make himself an official part of the Republic military as far as I can tell."

Everyone gives him a confused look, so he carries on, "I have information from Count Dooku himself that there exists a Celegian Jedi named Kuallue who left the Order a decade ago, just after Dooku himself." Though the Count did not go into detail on his past, apparently when he trained as a Jedi Padawan, Kuallue was a friend to Dooku's own Master, Thame. Of course, the Count kept his past mostly private, for he was never vulnerable in that way before Grievous.

Grievous, by contrast, never receives any right to privacy from his Separatist masters. They probably know his past better than he does. In any case, apparently Dooku was passingly familiar with Kuallue, and he confirmed that the Jedi left the mainstream Order to follow Djinn Altis over some disagreements on parts of the Code. Kuallue, he explained, would be a Jedi with a family who was not bound to the commands of the High Council and was not enlisted to fight in the war.

"Kuallue made a contact of sorts with me during the Battle of Obroa-skai, during which he both sensed my mind and revealed his own desires to me. It was a unique contact like nothing I had ever felt, a communication that was abstract, with ideas and not words. Other Jedi can read minds, but he is… different. Based on this description, Dooku was able to figure out his identity."

B9 asks, "So you have confirmation that he is here now?"

Grievous nods, "I knew he was coming. In the contact, he revealed great pain, like a being who had lost everything he ever cared about. And vengeance, for he believed I was responsible."

In that sense, he may be more like me than he realizes. In that moment of bizarre intimacy, it was almost like looking into a mirror to where I was so long ago… A strange part of him would almost be proud to see Keldon mold Kuallue into a fierce warrior as the Count did him, to see his mirror complete his sad journey, but from a more practical standpoint, the fact of the matter is that Kuallue might become very dangerous at some point, and Sadiya Keldon already is.

"I have seen footage of him circling our camp before heading west," Grievous explains, "And now General Keldon follows him. Given time, they will form an alliance. We have the chance to defeat two dangerous threats. Few to no clones are guarding them now, and we may be able to catch them before they agree to work together." The argument sounds rather persuasive to him, but any excuse would be good enough to get him out of this city and actually work on solving the problem at hand.

However, it would seem that the others don't buy it as much. LilVas shakes her head, countering, "This is all based on so much speculation. You don't even know where they're going, plus they could have reinforcements waiting for them. Not to mention, we haven't had time to effectively plan a way past this Republic blockade. We're simply not ready for battle; we'd get slaughtered before we even make it a kilometer past the shield."

TeenPat sighs at that, retorting, "Why don't you have any faith at all? There may be losses, yes, but we could easily make it through. The Republic has its forces stationed there so that they can attack, but it's not a rigid defense. Selbar is the best defensive holdout we could possibly have. There's nowhere on Bandomeer better for us to go, so they aren't trying to stop us from leaving."

"So, we send our forces outside, rush past their defenses, go on Grievous's adventure, and then whomever we send is trapped outside without any defenses or supplies," she points out, gesturing to the Republic camps on the map for emphasis.

They're just so… timid. This is a war; there will be losses. "Their defenses are stationed along the ground, and our defensive shield extends high into the sky," Grievous explains. "We can veer north or south, circle around, and go up or down. There will be ways back in."

"So, we get out and then what?" she asks. WanThir nods along as she says, "Even if the Republic's defenses are as shoddy as you think, we still have to somehow find the two targets, and then we need to launch a successful strike against not just one but two Force-users. Even if all that works out, what do we gain? The Republic army is still waiting outside, and they'll just bring in a new commander from elsewhere!"

Hopefully, they'll learn to trust me a bit more after this battle. This kind of deliberation is costing us precious, precious time. Keldon and Kuallue could be coming back. We need to get moving.

B9 starts stating, "I would side with absolutely everything that LilVas has…"

Grievous interrupts, "You will analyze the Republic defense and find the most effective method to get a strike force through them out the west side. WanThir will inform his troopers and pilots that we will begin the launch in fifteen minutes. We will escort our fastest armed speeders out of this city. I will lead the vehicular assault personally, and once General Keldon is located, we will strike."

For all their bickering and pointless worrying, they'll do their jobs. My say is final, for I have at least earned this level of power. If the Count were here, he would probably listen to the others just to humiliate me, but he is not.

He turns to exit, his chalk-white cloak billowing behind him as his heavy footsteps move swiftly toward the door. "You're going way too fast, General," warns WanThir. "A wise general strikes as the vaapad, but draws his plans up as the sarlacc." Grievous does not look back to respond as the door closes behind him.

It doesn't take long for Grievous to find himself a speeder, and very quickly the other troopers are getting ready. They are prepared to use both of their prototype HMP Predators, a slow but heavily armed model of airspeeder designed to imitate the success of the Republic's LAATs. The ships are newer, and Grievous hasn't had many chances to see them in action, so he's curious to see how effective they are.

He likewise could have had another new vehicle in his Tsmeu-6 wheel bike, but unfortunately, he left it on Botajef, getting modifications to add additional weaponry in place of its passenger seat. If the mechanics had any sense of urgency, it would have arrived before the Republic attacked Bandomeer. Given the Predators' limits in both speed and number, the majority of the strike force will have to be composed of other vehicles, including about 20 STAPs, which will be piloted by a mix of Babteer Pil pilots and B1 battle droids. He has been told that from the spacecraft hangar, there is also a squadron of vulture droids ready for launch.

Finally, Grievous enters into the cockpit of an Arrow-21 landspeeder, a rugged civilian craft which has been modified by Babteer Pil, who added a turret in the back. They have two of these speeders, which are each light silver in color and have a very aerodynamic profile with slanted transparisteel windows.

In his speeder, there are three Babteer Pil soldiers seated behind him, plus a gunner in the rear turret. As Grievous looks at the control panel, he notes that it is highly modified as well, with one that indicates a forward-facing concussion missile launcher. He actually didn't notice that when entering the vehicle, so credit to them for making it subtle.

He can't help but feel a little bit of disgust at having to use a civilian vessel. This thing seems like a makeshift toy for people who pretend to be soldiers. A cheaper choice for a part-time military who doesn't need the real thing. They have their fun staying on alert during peacetime, then they'll fight for a few weeks, but once the battle leaves their world, win or lose, they get to go back home. So, they don't invest in top tier equipment. It's frustrating having to work with these cowards, but they're better than nothing. Time to show them what a real battle is like.

B9, for all its flaws, has actually assembled what seems to Grievous as a decent plan, with a two phase attack. The first will utilize both droid gunships, plus a handful of STAPs, in a diversionary assault that will attract the attention of the clones with what will essentially be a suicide attack.

It will go straight into the heart of the Republic's secondary camp to the south, which houses their primary hangar for airspeeders. Hopefully, the Predators will be able to take out some of the grounded vessels, but at minimum, they will distract everyone, and they can go on strafing runs against the infantry.

As the Republic's attention is turned that way, then Grievous will take the Arrow-21s, plus the remainder of the STAPs, on a speedy journey to the west, north of his adversaries who hopefully won't be able to pursue immediately. It will be a race, no doubt, but hopefully a race that they can win. Finding Keldon quickly will be instrumental, so everyone involved has seen the footage of both speeders and knows what they need to look for.

TeenPat may have been onto something when she said that getting back in will be much harder than getting out, because the Republic will have time to reset their defenses and prepare while they're out. Ultimately though, I'd rather go out there and die than be cooped up inside the shield any longer. Something needs to be destroyed tonight. We have nothing to gain by waiting.

As the minutes drag by, Grievous continues to familiarize himself with the speeder's controls as while the last few Babteer Pil get themselves ready. Impatient, Grievous's fingers and toes twitch as he goes about studying the speeder, and he finds himself constantly looking around to note the status of some of the soldiers. Not all of them are moving as frantically as he would expect, with many moving at a walking pace (or less, as Meerians have fairly short strides) as they go about getting themselves ready.

"We need to move faster," he shouts, "The window of opportunity is short!" Grievous personally gets out of his speeder to inspect its exterior, looking for any signs of damage and even finding those concussion missiles, and he opens the hatch that covers the launcher to examine it. Unfortunately, it's a smaller missile than he would've hoped for, and the landspeeder only carries two of them. Still frustrated by everyone else's inability to get ready, he finds something else to help the mechanics with, grabbing a handful of power packs for blaster cannons and inserting them into the STAPs that had been lacking them.

General Keldon and Kuallue just need to keep talking for a few minutes longer. Finally, the last few Babteer Pil arrive in the hangar, and Grievous gets back into his landspeeder, pressing the button to activate his engines. He takes another look at the Babteer Pil behind him, announcing to them, "Tonight we kill General Keldon."

"Of course, General. She doesn't stand a chance!" one responds.

Through the opening at the front of the hangar, Grievous can see the two droid gunships and their escort of STAPs flying past, and as their specs had said, the new vehicles are indeed quite slow. He activates a holographic projection showing the strike force flying south, towards the edge of the city. They approach the edge of the shield.

As soon as they pass through it, Republic cannons will bear down on them, beginning the battle. But at the same time, they must get moving too, so that once the Republic's focus is on the Predators, they're leaving the city out the west side.

Indeed, the signal for launch turns on, and a Meerian member of the flight crew swings his arm around to gesture for them to leave. Grievous accelerates quickly then immediately after getting out of the hangar, he leans into a sharp right turn to put them on the westbound road, racing opposite the setting sun.

Maxing out the accelerator, he takes a glance down back toward the hologram, just as the Predators and STAPs pass through the shield. He turns his focus back to his own journey, noting that he has put himself at the front of the pack. The Arrow-21, it turns out, is quite fast and maneuverable for its size, a very sporty vessel. We'll see how it holds up once it starts taking hits.

It doesn't take long for Grievous's speedy armada to reach the edge of the shield. Only a small Republic defensive line awaits them, mostly infantry, who immediately turn their handheld blasters on the Separatist speeders.

Even as they return fire, Grievous angles his speeder directly toward the clones, attempting to run them over. Most are able to evade his speeder, with quite a few running towards a building on the left, although one drops down underneath it. Grievous doesn't look back to see if the repulsorlift crushed the clone, as his attention is instead focused to his left, where two AT-RTs are waiting behind the building.

The AT-RTs blast at them, but Grievous would not turn around so as to return fire with the concussion missiles. They can't keep up with us anyway. Looking back, he sees one STAP crash to the ground, but he also notices the turret atop his speeder send a well-placed blast into one the AT-RT's right leg.

He is more focused, however, on looking further back, wondering if any speeders or starfighters may be pursuing. Thankfully, they are entering a forested area, which should provide some cover from strafing runs, but there's still a good chance that the Republic will be sending someone after them.

From the nearby building, three BARC speeders enter into pursuit, but Grievous doesn't worry too much about them. The STAPs quickly begin to maneuver around the BARCs, attacking from above where they have an advantage. One of the BARCs lands a hit on the other Arrow-21, but it seems to hold up fine, and Grievous's evasive maneuvers prevent his own vehicle from taking any damage.

It is not long until they are all safe, with casualties of just two STAPs over the course of the battle. The BARC speeders were indeed quickly shot down, and the remainder of the clone troopers have been left far behind. Grievous turns his attention to the holographic map, where he notices that all of his forces from the first group have been wiped out. That is to be expected; it was a suicide attack. A message from the Predators, displayed at the bottom of the screen catches his eye.

"Primary hangar destroyed. Estimated Republic personnel casualties: 24."

Excellent. The gunships indeed pack quite the punch. It's a shame that no more are available. Grievous keeps a careful eye out for either General Keldon's speeder or Kuallue as they zoom off under the long shadows cast by the forest around them.