A gray shuttle flew into the hangar of Invisible Hand, flanked by a dozen droid trifighters. Vulture droids stood on the deck in anticipation and readiness to defend it from any attackers. They saw Republic ships congregating off in the distance, they would soon attack, and their orders were to protect the shuttle and its occupants at all costs. The shuttle touched down in the middle of the hangar, its legs detracting and setting itself to a graceful stop. Steam wafted out of its exhaust ports, and its lights lit up a company of super battle droids in front, standing at attention for their leader to emerge.
Two Magna-guards walked out side-by-side, and behind them was a metal creature, slightly hunched, wearing a cape with a dark gray exterior bearing a Kaleesh glyph and a burgundy interior with pockets for lightsabers stolen from dead Jedi. Its skull-like head betrayed an alien mask, and two yellow reptilian eyes shone from the sockets. It was the infamous General Grievous, head of the droid army to some, Dooku's lapdog to others, but to the citizens of the galaxy a monster that had slaughtered billions, a monster that could not comprehend love, a monster that knew only war and death. But even he did not draw all the attention, for behind him in cuffs and a modest cyan gown was Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who looked quite frail and afraid being herded by the cyborg general and his droids.
Grievous stopped in the middle of the hangar, and a droid commander approached him. "General, Count Dooku is awaiting you and the chancellor in the Wizard's Tower."
Grievous gave a curt laugh, pleased with the battle's events and his success, then he coughed. He still felt pain in his chest from that Jedi with the purple lightsaber's attack. He was lucky his organs were only scratched. Once this battle over Coruscant was over he would get that toady San Hill to look him over and fix the problem, and he would not give another excuse. "We mustn't keep him waiting, Chancellor."
The Chancellor frowned. "You will regret this, you fiend." The General ignored him, and he and the Magna-guards herded him along out of the hanger and down a long, bleak corridor. More battle droids and pilots moved between from other chambers and corridors, tending to stations, for the Republic counterattack was underway. He could already hear blaster fire and deep explosions from bombs. He continued unabated, these sounds were the music of his life, his life as a warrior, from when he was slaughtering the Huk to save his people from enslavement to slaughtering the perfidious Jedi who betrayed them.
They entered an elevator, bringing them up to the Wizard's Tower in the very back of the ship. They continued down another, shorter corridor, and then onto the observation deck, an expansive room with windows reaching up and over the ceiling, showing the planetary city below and Separatist and Republic ships congregating and firing salvos at each other. At the room's far end was an empty chair, and next to that chair stood Dooku, staring at the General and the Chancellor, his face hiding whatever thoughts were lurking in his mind.
"Chancellor," the Count began, "We have been expecting you."
The Chancellor said nothing, but Grievous noticed his fear and fragility had vanished, and he strode confidently toward the chair and let the Magna-guards strap him in. He was calm, complacent, perhaps he fully expected rescue or he thought they would never consider killing him. Pathetic, he was unprepared like a warrior should, unprepared for a change of mind.
"Why do you insist on keeping him alive?" Grievous asked Dooku. "We should lop his head off and be done with it!" The Chancellor was unmoved.
Dooku turned and paced behind the chair. "Patience, General, I have my reasons. Our hostage has invaluable information on the Republic's and the Jedi's plans. And he can always be ransomed."
Grievous put his hands behind his back. "I cannot hold off the Republic here forever, and you told me two Jedi will be coming to rescue him: Kenobi and Skywalker. We must not give him an opportunity to escape."
"Of course, I would not be so foolish as to let him escape in such a way, let alone alive." Dooku turned and stood behind the chair, his hand patting his lightsaber. The Chancellor's face was serene, but some doubt had formed, as if he felt something was amiss, something not unaccounted for.
Dooku sighed. "Sadly, I believe you are right about the immediacy of our situation. And I was right the Chancellor had other plans." The Chancellor's face contorted into shock, then rage, and Grievous saw a flash of red, and a storm of blue lightning flew from Palpatine's fingers, knocking him back. He drew his own lightsabers to block another burst of lightning, Dooku had used this technique when sparring with him many times, and it would not defeat him now. Was the Chancellor a force user? It was unthinkable, but as he staggered forward to stop the lightning, he saw the Chancellor's face, haggard and contorted with fury, and Dooku struggling to block the waves of lightning with his own lightsaber.
Grievous dashed at the chair, swinging his sabers at the Chancellor's body. Despite his skill, the lightning was everywhere, and he felt one bolt reach his left shoulder plate, and it shot across his body, giving him a terrible shock. He roared in pain and fell back, trying to block the rest of the lightning with one free arm while the others seized uncontrollably. He arched his back and his eyes shut, and he felt the flesh between them being cooked and seared, and it was about to reach his chest. If it did not stop, the lightning would burn him inside out. He tried to crawl away or get up, but he could not, only feeling the searing and burning strengthen every second.
He heard a harsh slice, and the lighting stopped. He forced his eyes open, and before him was Dooku panting, his lightsaber clutched in his hand. The chair's back was sliced neatly in half, and the Chancellor's head was gone, leaving a charred stump. After just a moment, the body erupted into blue flame, engulfing the entire room. Grievous flew through the air, slamming into the wall as he was overwhelmed by a wall of wails, screams, and shrieks of pain, fury, sorrow, and terror. He held one hand over his face to protect himself, and fumbled for something to hold onto. He found a railing and grasped it, waiting for the waves of flame and madness to subside.
The screams quieted, and he looked at the chair again. In the chair's place was a black, ashy stain on the floor, and the Chancellor was gone except for a few shreds of robe. Dooku lay sprawled behind it, disheveled but otherwise healthy.
"What was that?" Grievous asked over another coughing fit.
"I just destroyed the Chancellor, or should I say Sidious." Dooku said, picking his lightsaber off the floor.
"They're the same?" Grievous exclaimed. "How is it possible?"
"Our master was also Sheev Palpatine from Naboo. He planned to destroy the Republic from within, and I was privy to it. But I discovered he planned to betray us both and the Confederacy for his own gain. I could not allow it, for the galaxy's sake. Unlike him, I believe in our cause."
Grievous groaned. "If he planned to betray us, then good riddance. What do we do now?"
"Return to the ship's bridge and prepare a retreat. We have no further reason to be here." Dooku paused and looked up. "I sense the Jedi are here. I will deal with them. Go."
"With pleasure!" Grievous turned and strode out of the chamber, flanked by the surviving manga-guards. This was a most unexpected turn of events, but it would not interfere with his duties or the might of his droid army. He would fight on, as he always had.
XXXXX
"Did you press the stop button?"
"No, did you?"
Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi were about to call Artoo to get the elevator moving again when both doubled over. Skywalker felt a wrenching, wailing presence in his head, clawing at his mind and his very thoughts like a hungry predator. It wanted him, it wanted to eat his entire being, but as soon as it arrived it began pulling away, kicking and screaming. The entire ordeal lasted only a few seconds, but it felt to him a whole year had passed hounded by that savage beast. It was the Dark Side, there could be no doubt.
He straightened himself and turned to his master. Kenobi's face showed he had just endured the same disturbance. "What was that? What's Dooku up to up there?"
"I feel as if something grand, something awe-inspiring but terrifying, was just snuffed out. Whatever it is, this can't be good." He spoke into the commlink. "Artoo, get the elevator moving, activate 31174." There were a few beeps on the other end, and the elevator shot downward, then halted and rose again. "Your little friend's giving me trouble again."
Skywalker grinned. "You're not the first to say that." His grin faded, something else was tugging at his mind. The disturbance had returned, though instead of savagely tearing it gently nudged, and he felt a dear friend was gone. But what friend was it? Kenobi was at his side, Artoo was in the hangar without trouble, Ahsoka was nowhere near Coruscant. Padmé was on the planet's surface, but she and the rest of the Senate had evacuated underground and were under heavy guard. The droids couldn't have reached them. But Palpatine…
"They've killed Palpatine!" he cried out. Dooku and Grievous were surely behind it, they knew they could not win this battle, so they killed the Chancellor before they could rescue him. How pathetic of them, they had to pay.
"Are you sure?" Kenobi asked. "Calm yourself, we're almost to the tower."
The elevator halted, and the Jedi beheld a wide room giving a grand view of the battle. The Separatist ships were massing for a retreat, and the Republic ships were pressing to not let them escape. In the room's center stood Dooku, and a black streak laid on the floor, one that left little to the imagination what it was.
Skywalker leapt down. "You killed him!" He charged forward, ignoring Obi-Wan's pleas for him to stop.
"Anakin, I told you we'd do it together this time!"
Dooku smiled as the young Jedi charged. "You would do well to listen to your master," he said as lightning shot from his fingertips. But Anakin was not blinded by his rage and caught it with his lightsaber. He stopped running for a moment, then marched forward, keeping the lightning away from his body.
Kenobi hurried forward to join Skywalker, deflecting another bolt from Dooku with his own lightsaber. Dooku drew his and held it parallel to his body momentarily, then gave a vicious swing at Skywalker. Skywalker blocked it, and swung madly at the Count, forcing him back to the glass. Kenobi joined to cut Dooku off from escape, and they backed him to the window. Dooku was unperturbed, and when Skywalker's lightsaber was raised again, he sent a Force push to his belly, knocking him a dozen feet back. He parried another blow from Kenobi, then ran to the center of the room for a better position.
Skywalker leapt to his feet, feeling a welling of anger in his heart. He felt more powerful than before with this anger, as if the Force was filling him with strength. Dooku had just killed the Chancellor, no, not just the Chancellor, but one of his closest friends. He had brought the war to Coruscant, threatening Padme's life as well. He would not let this Dark Lord take another life so dear to him.
Dooku too sensed the growing anger in Anakin, anger that was slowly transforming into hate. He was far more powerful than their last confrontation, not to mention Kenobi's skill was already a challenge. He needed to act quickly to defeat them both. He gave another force push to Kenobi as he swung at him, sending the Jedi flying back into a staircase. He parried a blow from Anakin, then extended his hand to the stairs and closed into a fist, crushing them around Kenobi, trapping him inside. He tightened his grip to crush the Jedi Master further, but Skywalker swung again, breaking his focus.
Skywalker unleashed a wild series of blows against Dooku, releasing his hate and anger at him, at the man that killed the Chancellor and just nearly killed his master. Dooku defended again and again, but his energies were nearly depleted from his Force attacks.
"You are sloppy, Skywalker," Dooku taunted. "I sense much fear in you, but you hide it with anger. You have hate, but you don't use it! You waste your power when you could be so much more, how disappointing."
Skywalker resisted, striking even faster. "You lie, I have no fear. I trust the Force and the Jedi. You won't get away this time." He swung at Dooku's head, who blocked it, then suddenly Force pushed the Sith lord in the legs, knocking him down. "Not ever," he said cooly as he brought his lightsaber down on his head. Dooku gasped in surprise, but he was too late. The Sith lord's head was separated cleanly from his body, and it rolled away toward the room's window.
Skywalker ran back to Kenobi, still trapped in the crushed stairs. "You're not dying on me here, Master."
Kenobi stirred, and rose to his feet as his apprentice pulled him out. "Where's Dooku?"
Skywalker hesitated. "He's been taken care of, now let's get you out of here."
"What do you mean 'taken care of?'" Kenobi asked in his typical exasperated tone as Skywalker led him up the stairs to the room's entrance.
"I'll tell you later," Skywalker muttered as they exited the room. "Right now, we need to catch up with Grievous."
XXXXX
General Grievous entered the bridge of Invisible Hand with another moaning cough, making the droids and Nemoidian pilots on deck stand at attention, praying not to arouse his wrath. The general made his way to the center of the bridge, hacking hard enough to shake his head before controlling himself. Two Magna-guards followed on his left and right.
"What's the situation, captain?" he rasped.
"Two Jedi are in the main hangar bay, we're tracking them."
"Just as Count Dooku predicted! Prepare the fleet for retreat from Coruscant." Grievous looked at the battlezone before him. The Confederacy was fighting on, but the Republic had them outnumbered as more ships and fighters poured into the fray to save their capital. Cowards, the whole of them were, always relying on their precious Jedi and clones to save them. Cowards just like the Huk, those beasts he killed by the thousands for enslaving his people. He would deal with them both in time, but now they had to pull back. Pull back, then they would strike and win.
"We will go to Utapau. I will inform the Separatist Council of the Chancellor's demise."
"What of the Jedi, sir?"
"Dooku will deal with them, and if not, I will." Grievous turned and flicked his wrist at the captain. "Put the hyperdrive on standby, and maintain ship defenses."
"But we're getting swarmed by Republic–"
A duranium fist slammed into the captain's pink face, shearing off half of his flesh and sending his left eye flying across the room. The captain's body flew back and onto the floor, leaving him in a puddle of his own blood. Still alive, the captain gasped in shock, then tried to cry out, but gurgled on fluids and misplaced skin.
"Next time I won't be so gentle," Grievous hissed as he made a round of the other Neimodian pilots, each one flushing pink with fear and doing their respective tasks with trembling fingers.
"Sir," another Nemoidian bravely spoke, his voice quivering, "Skywalker and Kenobi have escaped the tower."
Grievous growled. "What happened to Dooku?"
"There's no vitals in the tower." A camera feed opened at the pilot's station, showing the empty observation deck, and a familiar body lying near the throne where the Chancellor, or Sith Lord, had sat. "He's dead, sir."
"How could this be?" Grievous said in dismay, waving his arms with claws outstretched. How could his master have lost so easily? He had trained him for years in lightsaber combat, and he surely knew more than he taught him, Sith always kept the best secrets to themselves, but what if he hadn't? He was getting old, though, he had nearly died to those witches on that backwater called Dathomir. Dooku had taught him many things, and put him through many trials. He remembered those Jedi he invited into his home to test him; then they killed Gor. And he kept that useless maiden Ventress on board for far too long. He also never cared much for his requests to help his fellow Kaleesh when suffering at the hands of the Huk and the Republic, there was always another battle to lead that needed him. Suddenly, the thought of Dooku dead was much less bothersome.
A thousand things were running in Grievous's mind about his late master, but those had to wait. The intruders must be taken care of first.
"Locate me the Jedi!"
"They're en route back to the main hangar." The pilot scanned through camera feeds until he found two men running down a hallway. "They're in hall 1138."
"Activate ray shields!" Grievous ordered, smiling internally. How foolish of them to run through his ship like lost children looking for their parents. "It's time to give these Jedi a proper welcome."
XXXXX
Skywalker and Kenobi descended back down into the bowels of Invisible Hand from the Wizard's Tower. Kenobi had regained his strength, and could stand on his own. Neither had spoken since leaving the tower in an uneasy silence. It hadn't taken Kenobi long to realize Dooku was dead by Skywalker's own hand. He had always been reckless, and he had killed several enemies over the wars with little regret. It left him concerned it would escalate even after the war was over, which he hoped it would be soon Dooku gone and the CIS's leadership beheaded. At least that was one net positive from his former Padawan's headstrongness.
"You killed Dooku, Anakin." Kenobi said, breaking the silence. "You know that's unacceptable."
"He was too dangerous," Skywalker argued, "and he would've killed you if not for me."
"I know you and the Chancellor were close, but you gave in to your anger. You know that's not the Jedi way."
The elevator stopped, and Skywalker ran out. "Can we talk about this later? We still need to catch Grievous."
Kenobi shook his head as he followed. "You're still a learner." Artoo appeared and gave a cheerful beep and joined them down the corridor, which was oddly silent from the absence of droids. Grievous had to be hiding them somewhere to deal with them, or was he too busy with the battle with the Republic ships? He would not make such a basic mistake, which meant he was planning to ambush them.
"This looks too easy, be on your guard," Kenobi said just as white light enveloped them. A ring of white rays cascaded down from the ceiling and trapped them within its embrace. "What, how did this happen?" he asked in churlish surprise. "We're smarter than this!"
"Let's find out what this is," Skywalker said and activated his lightsaber. He brought its tip to the ring, and it sparkled in a metallic screech. "Ray shield, we can't get through."
"That I already knew. We will wait, then. Grievous will come to us, instead of us to him." Kenobi sat down on the floor, waiting serenely.
Skywalker paced back and forth. "You want them to capture us without a fight? What's a few droids and a shield? There's got to be a way out!"
"Use your head, Anakin," Kenobi said, not deviating from his stance. "There's nothing we can do now, and we need to save our energy for Grievous. He's not the gentle sort."
Skywalker sighed and continued pacing until a familiar clanking of metal feet echoed down the hall. A squad of B1 droids and super battle droids appeared, and from behind them emerged four droidekas. Magna-guards flanked them on both sides, their staffs sizzling.
"Drop your weapons," said one of the Magna-guards. "Now."
Kenobi stood up and placed his lightsaber on the floor. Skywalker rolled his eyes but did the same.
"I hope you know what you're doing," Skywalker said dryly as the ray shield deactivated and the Magna-guards took their lightsabers, then put handcuffs on them.
Kenobi smirked. "Have I ever let you down before?"
Skywalker couldn't help but smile to himself. Being taken prisoner was nothing new for him, but meeting Grievous was. At last he had the chance to put an end to that monster once and for all, the monster that destroyed countless Jedi and countless more of his clone comrades. He felt a swelling of anger and anticipation in him, ready to be released when an opportunity struck. It clawed at his skin like a krayt dragon, but he would not let it out yet. Kenobi never liked decisiveness.