The Demask is a bustle of activity as Grievous arrives, taking his hoverchair and his MagnaGuard through the docking tube and into the chaos. It got a nice refueling courtesy of some stolen fuel cells at Republic camp aurek, but it's still not entirely battle-ready as the Babteer Pil redistribute themselves. Much to Grievous's surprise, one of the first to greet him is a golden-haired, bearded Meerian who looks exhausted and disheveled. He looks familiar… Belrat TeenPat?
TeenPat gives him a proud, smiling salute before slouching back over. "General, it's an honor to see you again. I can't thank you enough for what you've done for the Babteer Pil."
"There is more yet to come," Grievous asserts as he hovers past. How is he even still alive? Whatever miracles I've pulled off today must at least be rivaled by this Meerian's survival story.
So Grievous looks back and inquires, "I thought you were killed at lake Nilseen. How did you even make it here?"
"I was captured, actually," replies TeenPat, who begins following Grievous to the bridge, "and I was brought to the Kalpana. I was held there and interrogated until your Infiltrator-series droids showed up today. We ran around for about two kilometers worth of the ship, sabotaged the comms, stole some V-19s, and then I flew around in a dogfight until we were able to destroy the Kalpana." TeenPat beams with pride, but he also trudges along slowly, even by Meerian standards. He has used up just about every ounce of energy he has, and Grievous can tell. One of the few downsides to non-droid soldiers is that it can sometimes be difficult to estimate their energy, but Grievous got plenty of practice when he fought in the Huk War.
"We couldn't have taken it down without your efforts," Grievous congratulates as they approach the turbolift. It's a strange feeling, being so indebted to another living soldier, and it's one that he hasn't felt for a long time. I wouldn't even be alive if not for this Meerian's rescue mission into the lake.
"Thank you General. I just got here, and us escaped prisoners are still trying to get reacclimated to the Demask. Do you mind if I join you on the bridge?" TeenPat asks.
"For the one who saved my life, I would be more than willing to allow that," Grievous answers, and the two step into the turbolift. Once they arrive, they find Captain Mu alongside B9-Z4 and a mixed crew of droids, Meerians, Neimoidians, and others. In some, Grievous can see traces of fear and uncertainty, but they look willing to do their jobs.
"Remember, everyone. We only need to protect Selbar and distract the Acclamators until the Separatist fleet arrives. This will not be a full-on engagement," he explains as he enters the bridge. His comments are met with relieved nods. He was never one for speeches, but it seems like this crew needs some words of encouragement. It's been a long and stressful siege, and this day in particular has been a taxing one.
As Grievous tries to formulate more inspiring words, TeenPat steps up to the task for him, filling the silence and announcing, "We've waited a long time for a free Bandomeer." He steps onto a command chair to gain a bit of height.
He continues, "Today is the day that it becomes a reality. Our lives and our honor have been given to this cause, fighting for years and months to break away from these chains. If we retreat or escape now, we may have beating hearts, but our lives and honor would've been devoted to a worthless cause, and our struggle would be purely a self-serving one."
"This evening, Grievous's ultimate virtue shall be proven. This evening, we fight not for our own lives, but for the freedom of Bandomeer. We shall not let them rule above us ever again! This evening, the Republic will be kicked off our planet for good! I don't want anyone to forget their family or friends in the city below, or anyone else spread across the planet: This battle is for them! And everything we've done should be worth it, earning their freedom!"
As TeenPat shakes his fist up in the air, the bridge erupts into applause and cries of "Fitrarritbab Babteer!" from the Meerian crew members. Mu and some of the Neimoidians look on, impressed by their passion. For Grievous, it's a display that reminds him so much of who he once was, leading his own people in their fight for their independence and freedom from the Huk. He could inspire his soldiers like that, but he did so more with his actions than his words. Today was perhaps more of the same, where it was his decisions that got them here.
But what none of these Meerians know is that their hope is built on lies. No amount of tactical savvy could ever make a fleet appear out of thin air, but he has at least enough tactical savvy to make the Meerians think that it's coming. Hopefully, the Republic can fall for the same trick. All his other tricks have worked today, but now he engages in a battle of wits with High General Keldon, who seemed to be unreachable during most of his successes.
Would my tricks have succeeded if she were aboard the Kalpana or commanding the soldiers in the valley? She already outsmarted me in the city center when she destroyed the shield…
Grievous can't help but wonder if he is leading all of these courageous people to their doom. But ultimately, TeenPat is right, that it will be a meaningful sacrifice to stand and fight here today. It would be an honor to go down fighting like this, alongside all of the people who've worked so hard to save their planet from High General Keldon and her Republic.
A few minutes later, WanThir and LilVas arrive on the bridge, holding both of their palms up to Grievous and TeenPat in greeting. "It's good to see you all alive," says a beaming LilVas, "I never would have dreamed that we could accomplish what we have today."
WanThir adds, "Even TeenPat? Today just keeps finding ways to redeem itself!"
"You can thank Grievous's droids on the Kalpana for my rescue," the young Meerian explains as he embraces his palti. Afterwards, LilVas gives him the same treatment.
"You should know about one more thing, General, that I've waited to say in order to make sure that this message is secure," LilVas then tells him, walking up closer and lowering her voice.
"What is it?"
"After we left camp aurek, I noticed that the CR25's ship's log hadn't been wiped for quite a long time. And on it, I found that it had carried a dozen febrillium warheads to camp aurek."
"Very old-fashioned," Grievous comments. Although they were quite useful for us against the Huk…
"Yes, but still powerful. Especially if other carriers brought down any further quantities. We would've known if they used them," LilVas points out.
Grievous considers their options. The warheads could be a useful asset, but to bring the Demask down to pick them up would invite the Republic fleet to trap them near the surface and endanger Selbar. We need to go up, not down.
Mu speaks up first, "I think that's too valuable to pass up."
"We can't just send the Demask down to pick them up," Grievous points out.
"There's still a Wayfarer-class freighter down there that we could commandeer," counters WanThir, "Maybe we should send a small transport down and use it to carry the warheads back up to the Demask. It would be one last very nasty surprise for Keldon."
LilVas volunteers, "I see little risk in this plan and would be happy to lead that mission."
"Excellent. LilVas shall handle the mission to camp aurek. WanThir shall then command our Consular-class cruiser while Captain Mu and I oversee the battle from here," Grievous commands. There are no objections. No one has any right to question him after what has happened. But perhaps they should.
After they depart, the ships go quickly into motion, with Micah Giiett and Demask ascending in tandem while a small transport veers off toward the ground. Up ahead, the freedom of space beckons, but that is not their destination.
It isn't long until the two Republic ships begin to approach, with the assault ships gaining altitude as well, as if expecting that they need to cut off the Separatists. The Republic couldn't make it in time if Grievous really wanted to flee, but he maximizes power to the shields as they fly slowly and prepare for battle. One of the Acclamator-class assault ships eclipses Bandomeer's setting sun, casting the bridge in shadow.
A Neimoidian calls out the vectors while Grievous, TeenPat and Teun Mu look at everything on a holographic map, and then the Separatists do the thing that the Republic doesn't expect. They angle themselves toward the keel of one of the Acclamators, the onethat Keldon's shuttle had gone to. They get low enough to see the sun under the Acclamator once more, although the tinted viewports of the Demask render it slightly green-hued. "Open fire," Grievous orders, and the final battle begins.
As the starships unleash their payloads, the Separatists begin to tuck themselves underneath one of the Acclamators, targeting the ship's softer underbelly and delivering a solid pounding. Mu and TeenPat look up at the battle with the ship above, but Grievous keeps his head straight forward, analyzing everything through the more complete picture provided by their holographic displays. The gunners fire well, targeting the most vulnerable points of the enemy ship as they were taught.
Nonetheless, the Demask is already damaged from what the Kalpana did to her, with shields at 60% even before they entered this second battle, and the Acclamator is fresh. As such, it's hardly a fair fight. That doesn't even include the second Acclamator that swoops in behind them. The Micah Giiett guards their stern, but it isn't going to hold up long in a ship that's significantly more massive. This time, the Republic knows exactly who is friendly and who isn't.
Grievous's mostly stolen starfighter complement is his closest thing to a strength, but he doesn't have anywhere near enough of an advantage in that department to seriously threaten either Acclamator with snubfighters.
He can see the bulky Wayfarer rising up below them on the map, and LilVas confirms, "We have the cargo. Count of 91," over a brief binary communication that B9 interprets for them. That's good, but I don't even know if we can hang in long enough to transfer the cargo over and get them into our missile launchers.
"I'll have her land in the main hangar," says Captain Mu.
"Belay that," Grievous orders, "and send her to docking tube 2C. I want those missiles close to the launchers so we can use them as soon as possible."
That urgency doubles half a minute later, when WanThir broadcasts, "Our shields just overloaded from an ion bomb!"
The Micah Giiett is a sitting duck now, and everyone knows it, Republic and Separatist alike. They could theoretically get their shields back online, but WanThir's ship has no chance to survive those few minutes without them. Not unless we could disable some guns on that Accclamator. "Try to flee," Grievous responds back, knowing it's mostly futile.
I'll miss WanThir. He was a good leader.
Things go further awry when the Wayfarer strays from its course, sailing away from the Demask. He wonders if it was somehow sabotaged, or if perhaps LilVas was never on it at all. Could it be a Republic ship? Have I fallen for my own tricks now?
"Hail that ship!" shouts Mu, "And get her back on course to dock with us!" Now, the Acclamators are firing on LilVas, which is a mismatch even more hopeless than what the Micah Giiett was up against. The Wayfarer is a civilian craft without military-grade shields, and it's a bit smaller than the Consular-class, with most of the bulk devoted to cargo space. It's about to be destroyed, and all 91 febrillium warheads with it. At least this rules out the ship being flown by the Republic.
But then, the Wayfarer changes course a second time after sliding between the Demask and the Micah Giiett. It veers to its starboard, putting itself in between the crippled Micah Giiett and the Acclamator above it.
It's a living shield, and it's not one that has any chance to last more than a minute. But a minute might just be enough time for WanThir to get his shields back online.
"We've received another message from LilVas aboard the Wayfarer," announces B9, "She says that it has been an honor to free Bandomeer alongside all of us. Don't let this be in vain."
As the droid finishes reading the message, something flies out of the freighter's tiny hangar, heading for the Acclamator at an attack speed. Behind what they're now identifying as a V-19 Torrent, there is some bulk getting pulled along by a chain. The computer can't identify it, but Grievous knows. The Wayfarer doesn't have any launchers for its precious cargo, so LilVas is using a backup plan that's primitive even by Kaleesh standards.
They're pulling the missiles along with a starfighter and some chains. One hit could result in a premature explosion in the middle of empty space, but the Acclamator clearly wasn't expecting this, and the gunners continue to focus on targeting the larger freighter. The Wayfarer gets blasted in two, but the V-19 presses on. There is no release mechanism, no launching of the missiles. The V-19 just keeps screaming toward the Acclamator at its maximum forward acceleration, missiles in tow. Suddenly, the starfighter and the underside of the Acclamator are both eclipsed by a brilliant explosion.
The bigger ship will survive, but Grievous can see the fires and the damage that it has taken as the crew of clones is no doubt frantically working to redirect the shields. "Redirect fire to that damaged Acclamator!" Grievous commands.
"Disable as many turbolasers as you can while it's weak!" supplies Captain Mu, who keys in a few commands.
For a brief moment, the Separatists hold an advantage. The damaged Acclamator begins flipping itself over to invoke its ventral turbolasers, which are in much better shape, but in the meantime, it looks like WanThir is able to restore power to shields on the Micah Giiett. LilVas's sacrifice saved that ship and WanThir's life.
But even with the brief boost, each side's set of turbolasers does their damage, and once the damaged Acclamator rotates around, Grievous knows that they can't stay for much longer. Micah Giiett is first to drop out of the engagement, this time recognizing danger before things become critical. With 14% power on their shields, no chance to increase it this time, and a disabled turbolaser, Grievous hails them.
"You've done all you can, WanThir."
The palti sighs audibly before replying, "I know. I'm sorry we can't finish this one." With that, he cuts his thrusters to let gravity carry the Micah Giiett away from the battle to safety, not far above Selbar.
It was fighting far above its weight class, but its crew did about all I could've asked of them. The enemies have been slightly softened, which is all Grievous really intended to do. He has the Demask and their starfighters follow the descent very slowly, going deeper into the gravity well that would prevent them from escaping into hyperspace. The Republic keeps a mostly constant distance as it fights them two on one.
By the time the first Acclamator's shields are near 70% strength, Mu calls out, "We're down to 10% of our shields! How long until those reinforcements?"
Grievous considers for a second and then says, "You'll see. But begin our descent. We can't hold out much longer on our own."
It's not even technically a lie.
With the advantage of artificial gravity and inertial compensators on the ship, Grievous can't feel them falling, but he can see their enemies get further away above them. After getting out of firing range, they come to a halt, still a healthy distance above Selbar. The ship is tilted enough that they can look down on the town which housed them and protected them. Now, they protect the town.
The Acclamators could end everything right now if they follow, smashing Grievous's last ship and taking out the rebellious town as well if they felt like it. But to come down into the gravity well is to trap oneself. And just as the Separatists are now trapped, the Republic would also be trapped if they head down, and those hypothetical reinforcements drop out of hyperspace above them.
While a few crew members worry themselves with fire control or emergency repairs, many on the Demask have nothing to do except wait. There are no more shots to be fired, and the engines are now steadily idling, keeping them in place.
So, they all occupy themselves by looking up, waiting for the salvation of reinforcements to drop out of hyperspace.
Grievous looks up, too, but not for reinforcements. He awaits something else. The Republic fleet, down to those two Acclamators, hovers in the air, torn by the decision between protecting themselves and completing their mission. It was similar to a choice that Grievous faced not long ago.
Even if the reinforcements were coming, Keldon could probably manage to destroy the Demask before her own demise. She is weighing whether or not that sacrifice would be worthwhile, he suspects. But she already made her choice. It's the choice she made when she ordered that the town not be destroyed while she was in it.
For High General Keldon, some things are more important than winning. The Republic fleet suddenly begins turning away, and then it accelerates upward, away from Bandomeer. A few minutes later, they disappear into hyperspace, removing the last significant Republic forces from the system.
Bandomeer is free.