This story is heavily inspired by A Single Decision, by Timewatch, which is my favorite story on this site. While not a full-on adaption, I will be borrowing a degree of plot points (especially early on) but things will diverge later, and I will not be using any of his OCs, they're his creations and I leave them to him. This story is dedicated to Timewatch, as a thank you for creating such an amazing story, and in the hopes that you will one day find the motivation to see it through to completion.

Chapter 1

Twist of Fate

Invisible Hand

On the bridge of Invisible Hand, the Supreme Commander of the Droid Army paced restlessly, cyborg hands clasped behind his back, beneath his long cloak. General Grievous was a name feared across entire swathes of the galaxy, both for his military brilliance as well as his ruthless and brutal tactics. The cyborg general would have it no other way. As Count Dooku had always taught, fear and intimidation were his best assets when engaging the enemy, especially the hated Jedi.

Speaking of Count Dooku and the Jedi, two Jedi were astern with the Count at that minute. On the observation deck of the Providence-Class Dreadnought, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was held captive, kidnapped by the General and his underlings hours earlier, and used as bait. Just as Count Dooku predicted, the Jedi had landed in the hangar and been allowed to make their way to the prisoner's holding area, where Count Dooku was meant to engage and destroy them with ease.

Grievous had been unsure about this operation from the beginning, and now, his misgivings were multiplying. While he loved the idea of sowing terror through the heart of the Republic and horrifying its pathetic populace, he did not think kidnapping the Chancellor was needed. Better to kill him on the spot and make a bloody example of the silly old fool before the galaxy. Adding complexities to the plan increased the chances of things going wrong, and if there was anything Grievous hated more than Jedi, it was snags.

His doubts had worsened when he learned who had landed. The Jedi boarding party consisted of Obi Wan Kenobi and his former apprentice, the so-called Hero Without Fear, Anakin Skywalker. Despite never having encountered the boy personally, the irritating brat had been responsible for foiling many of Grievous's plans and causing a great deal of anger on the part of the cyborg.

Still, Grievous was wise enough to respect each of them for their skill, and he wondered whether the Count had been arrogant enough to demand that Grievous remain on the bridge. Sure, the Count had defeated the pair before, but they had bested him as well, and while he only grew older, the two Jedi were both in their primes and increasing in skill and experience by the day. His odds of losing were not slim.

Grievous let out a furious growl which turned into a fit of coughing as the fires of burning capital ships danced in his eyes. If the old fool loses, the Chancellor escapes and we lose.

The General peered over the shoulder of one of the Neimoidian officers on the bridge, looking at the capital ship losses for the battle so far. The CIS was engaged in a grindy and attritional knife fight with the Republic, and losses were increasing by the minute. A victory here could buy the CIS the time it needed to get back into the fight, turning around the recent string of losses. A loss here would result in their doom, with the Republic capturing Raxus within months if not weeks. Grievous would not capitulate, of course, and would demand the rest of the Confederacy fight to the last, but even that would not be enough. This bold operation was supposed to give the Confederacy time and breathing room to get back into the fight, while also deeply weakening the Republic's leadership structure. That was the only reason a risk like this was worth it, from a pragmatic sense. The Confederacy was out of time and out of options, so this was the only shot.

Grievous's entire life was dedicated to crushing the Republic and the hated Jedi. He had taken on the augmentations to see his crusade against them through to the end. If they lost, the Jedi lived, and Grievous's life's work was wasted. His life was wasted. No, he would not have that. Dooku's ire be damned.

"You two, come with me!" Grievous snapped at his two MagnaGuards, "Captain! You have the conn until I return."

"Understood, General," Captain Daultay Dofine nodded respectfully. He knew full well what Dooku's orders to Grievous had been, and was wise enough to not remind Grievous of them. That's why I don't kill him.

"Order all the security droids to the observation deck, but tell them to wait to engage," Grievous barked as he swept off the bridge, "this ambush will not be ruined by idiots!"

Grievous's stride broke momentarily as he barked out another spree of hacking coughs, symptoms of the crushing of his lungs by Mace Windu during the kidnapping of the Chancellor. Damn the Jedi's Champion for adding another weakness to his flesh. Damn the Jedi for his condition. Damn it all.

Hate burning in his eyes, Grievous's clawed feet clanged loudly against the durasteel floors of the dreadnought's halls as he stepped onto the lift that ran along the spine of the mighty vessel. The mag-lev train zipped him along, speeding him to the stern of his flagship. His ornate cape swept along behind him as he strode off the lift, through the halls to the elevator, and made his way to the observation deck, breaking into another coughing and cursing fit on his way up. A small army of battle droids, ranging from the pathetic B1s to the mighty B2s and droidekas were gathered silently outside, awaiting their master's arrival.

"Come along fools, there are Jedi to slay," Grievous growled, beckoning them along with a wave of his clawed hand. He barked another cough and felt a shooting pain in his brain, which was followed by a moment of airy lightheadedness, causing him to briefly wonder whether or not this was a good idea. With the fading pain, too went his doubt. Kenobi, Skywalker, and Palpatine would die today, setting the Confederacy one step closer to victory.

The door to the observation deck slid open silently, and Grievous stalked in, followed by his MagnaGuards and then the rest of his battle droids, which filtered in and took up positions along the raised platform by the door, weapons armed and waiting silently for his command. He would have given the word to fire, if it weren't for a moment's hesitation, caused by the sight before him.

Count Dooku was on his knees and his hands were severed from his body. His neck was caught between a cross of lightsabers, held by a victorious Anakin Skywalker. Obi Wan was unconscious in the corner, while Palpatine was grinning rather maliciously at the young Jedi.

"Do it!" Palpatine snapped viciously, and Skywalker's hesitation vanished. With a flip of his wrists, Skywalker decapitated the Count of Serrenno, sending a wave of shock through the General. He's dead!

With fury burning inside him, Grievous roared ferociously, "Kill them!"

Palpatine looked up first, straining against his bindings with a look of shock and fury as Grievous slipped two lightsabers from his cloak. Even if the Chancellor had been Force-Sensitive, he would have been equally helpless. Those bindings were meant for Jedi, so weak and elderly politicians had no chance. He was no threat.

Skywalker was the problem. A look of surprise broke through the young Jedi's steely resolve, from which he quickly recovered, igniting his lightsaber and charging across the room toward the General as the droids opened fire.

"Yes!" Grievous bellowed as he ignited two lightsabers, green and blue respectively, "Come to me, Jedi, and meet your doom!"

Skywalker leaped into the air and raised his lightsaber high for a vicious overhand strike as Grievous fell back into a defensive stance. Then the droids fired.

With his lightsaber over his head and blazing eyes locked on Grievous, he had forgotten about Grievous's army, and from his exposed position, he paid the price. In the moment he hung in the air, he was struck by no less than seven direct hits to his torso, arms, and legs. Skywalker's lightsaber was knocked from his hands as he crumpled to the ground with a cry.

Across the room, the Supreme Chancellor was absolutely riddled by blaster fire, being a stationary target that the CIS battle droids were best at hitting consistently. The old fool was incinerated by almost a hundred blaster bolts, clumped mostly in his torso and neck. Justice delivered.

Despite tanking several direct hits, the foolish boy still lived, crumpled on the floor and trying to crawl along pathetically. For all intents and purposes he was already dead. Unless given immediate medical attention, he would be dead within minutes. While letting the hated Jedi suffer for his last minutes was tempting, Grievous had a better idea.

"You!" Grievous barked at one of his MagnaGuards, "Get me on camera and meet me at the airlock. I want the galaxy to watch this."

As the MagnaGuard departed, Grievous pointed at several other battle droids, "You two! Take Kenobi away and bind him below. We'll have use for him later. You two, grab the Chancellor's body and follow me, it's time for a demonstration!"

Leaning over with another hacking cough, Grievous collected Skywalker's and Kenobi's lightsabers and slipped them into his cape, feeling a sense of pride. These are crown jewels.

Then, Grievous stalked over to where Skywalker was moaning quietly on the ground, slowly dying. With a malicious laugh, the General grabbed Skywalker by the back of his neck and lifted him into the air, rotating him and holding him close to look him in the eyes.

"Anakin Skywalker," Grievous sneered triumphantly, "I thought someone of your reputation would be a little… older."

Expecting a retort from the famously quick-witted Jedi Knight, Skywalker instead remained silent, face twisted in concentration. He felt a twitch at his hip and looked down in surprise to see. Skywalker's lightsaber twitched from side to side, then slowly slipped out of its pocket. With a roar of anger, Grievous dropped the Jedi to the floor and seized the lightsaber before the Jedi could regain his weapon.

"Not today, Jedi!" Grievous roared, planting a clawed foot on the Jedi's chest and igniting Skywalker's lightsaber. Then, he severed the boy's hands with two quick sweeps of his lightsaber. One was metal and clattered harmlessly to the floor, but the other elicited a cry of pain and hiss of burning flesh, "Flesh is weak, boy, now Count Dooku has his revenge."

"You're a killer, Grievous," Skywalker breathed laboriously, panting on the floor as his strength faded, "Someone will get you someday. Someone will avenge everyone you've murdered."

"But not you, boy," Grievous growled scornfully, seizing Skywalker in his clawed grip once more"You're going to be made an example of before the galaxy."

Skywalker did not seem to have the energy to respond, as the color began fading from his face. Laughing with hate and triumph, Grievous dragged the fallen Jedi up the stairs and down the hallway, past the elevator to the airlock, where a MagnaGuard was waiting with a camera setup ready to go.

"Hurry, fools!" Grievous snapped, hoisting Skywalker aloft as the door to the airlock opened, "This insect won't last much longer."

Grievous had the droids with Palpatine's body remain off camera for the moment as he rehearsed the words he and Count Dooku had planned for this occasion. There was some needed improvisation, given that the circumstances had changed, but that would not stop Grievous. Let the slimy pests of the Republic know fear.

"You're live on the Holonet in three, two, one," the MagnaGuard droned, then a red light flipped on adjacent to the camera. The entire galaxy's eyes were now doubtlessly upon him.

Grievous stepped before the camera but lowered the dying Skywalker, keeping him out of sight for the moment, "Greetings, noble warriors of the Confederacy and bitter slaves of the Republic! Mere minutes ago, the Jedi assaulted my dreadnought to help Chancellor Palpatine escape justice for his transgressions against the people of the galaxy. The war criminals you call peacekeepers expected to catch us by surprise, but rather they fell into my trap!"

That was when Grievous hoisted Skywalker aloft. The Jedi was deathly pale and barely breathing. There were only moments of life left in him, but that would be enough for Grievous's purposes.

"See what became of your champion, Jedi!" Grievous growled triumphantly, holding Skywalker high like a trophy, "The so-called Hero Without Fear, an honorless rat caught in my trap! Not even taken down by me or Count Dooku, but rather by battle droids!" He twisted the dying Jedi so the camera clearly displayed his blaster wounds, "Hah! Hero, no more, it seems! See this, subjects of the Republic and sniveling cowards in the Jedi Temple. Watch as I enact revenge once more, for all the Jedi and Republic's transgressions."

Grievous reached for Skywalker's lightsaber with his free hand, then thought better of it, and grabbed Kenobi's instead. Though he planned to make no mention of Kenobi's fate, the Jedi would doubtlessly know which lightsaber was which. Let them squirm and wonder.

He ignited the lightsaber in clear view of the camera, casting a blue glow over the airlock, and held it to Skywalker's neck. Turning to look at the Jedi, he saw the light already fading from Skywalker's eyes.

"No last words of defiance, Jedi?" Grievous laughed scornfully, "Ha! Not so brave anymore, it seems!"

Grievous severed Skywalker's head from his neck with a single swipe of Kenobi's saber, letting the body crumple to the floor of the airlock while holding the head in his hand for a moment longer. Let them see what became of their hero. After a brief moment, he tossed the head aside like trash and seized the body of Chancellor Palpatine from the battle droids.

"Ahhh, nothing like an execution to start the address, wouldn't you agree, Chancellor?" Grievous brought Palpatine into view then, holding the body aloft for the camera to clearly see, "A shame the same could not be done for this pathetic meatbag, but his fate was sealed when caught in the crossfire. See this, rats! See what happens to those who uphold the corrupt and authoritarian regime you call the Republic!"

He tossed the body into the airlock alongside Skywalker's, then stepped out and vented it, making sure the camera showed them vanishing into space to join the trillions of tons of debris in low orbit around Coruscant.

"The trash returns to the dump where it belongs," Grievous sneered, then cut the transmission. As soon as the red light blinked out, he broke into a long fit of brutal, hacking coughs that he had been holding in the whole time. The coughs sent spikes through his brain, and his head whirled.

When he came to, he was on the floor, with the MagnaGuards and other droids crowded around him. Grievous realized with shock and embarrassment that he had passed out. A MagnaGuard commented, "I am not familiar with organic anatomy, but I recommend seeing a doctor. This behavior is abnormal."

"A splendid observation!" Grievous barked, climbing back to his feet. Nevertheless, the idiot droid was right, he needed to see his droid and see what could be done about his lungs. Damn you Windu! Let Skywalker's fate be revenge for what you did to me.

The ship shook violently, and Grievous stumbled again, then shouted, "Get me to the Medical Bay! And tell Captain Dofine to take us back to Utapau!"

Then Invisible Hand rattled violently again, and everything went black.

Some Time Later…

Grievous awoke to the sound of a grinding saw somewhere on his cranium, and as such resisted the urge to lash out physically, recognizing the work of his medical droid A-4D. Instead, he lashed out with his tongue, snapping, "What do you think you're doing in there, doctor, you're supposed to be fixing my lungs."

"You've been out for a while, General," A-4D replied, sounding tired, if such a thing was possible for a droid, "I decided I'd make some executive decisions concerning your health. Your lungs took quite a beating, so I figured I'd look elsewhere for injuries."

"And?" Grievous growled impatiently, though he kept his head still as the droid's saw ground away at him.

"I did the best I could on your lungs. The Bacta implants should help them over time, but they'll never go fully back to normal," A-4D reported.

"Some doctor you are," Grievous sneered angrily, suppressing another coughing fit.

"You had them forcefully collapsed, General," the droid countered, "These are not cuts and scratches. You're lucky I was able to do anything at all. The good news is the migraines and passing out should not happen anymore. The bad news is you'll be spending the rest of your life with a chronic cough."

"Small sacrifices," Grievous growled, "A small price to pay for a Jedi and the Chancellor."

"And the Count," A-4D added unhelpfully.

"Yes, the Count," Grievous pondered. What am I going to do about that situation? I suppose I'm in charge now. I'll handle things until we reach Raxus, then contact Sidious.

"Speaking of the Count, there is some information I would like to share with you," A-4D said, "I was strictly forbidden to share this with you, but since he has passed and you're in charge, I think you ought to know."

"Go on," Grievous growled cautiously, wondering where this was going.

"There are a number of microchips implanted into your brain, General," the droid said plainly.

"What?!" Grievous shouted angrily, trying to comprehend what that meant.

"You have a series of implants beneath your skull," A-4D explained, "Some are positive, like reflex enhancers and the like, whereas others are more malicious. You have several memory inhibitors and emotion manipulators. You have an increased tendency to anger and hatred, with reduced critical thinking skills, they also-"

"OUT!" Grievous roared ferociously, soul burning with fury. They betrayed me! "Out! Out! I want it all out!"

"As you say, General," the droid answered obediently, "Just be aware some of these memories may be traumatic, you may-"

"Out, I want all of it out!" Grievous bellowed, "Do you take me for a weakling, doctor? Take it out!"

"As you say, General," A-4D answered, "I recommend leaving the benevolent additions in-"

"Yes, whatever," Grievous snapped, "Just get it out!"

"Very well, hold still, General," the droid instructed.

There were several minutes of silence, broken only by the whirring of A-4D's medical tools. Inwardly, Grievous seethed at the revelation of his betrayal by those he thought to be his allies. Dooku had betrayed him, and others likely had too. Do they take me for a fool? Do they all laugh behind my back, mocking me for my ignorance? I'll rip their hearts out and feed them to a Nexu if that's true. I'll get to the bottom of this in time…

"There you are," A-4D reported, plopping a quartet of chips onto the side table, "Ready for your next bloodbath. Try to keep your bionics at least somewhat intact, this time. Doing the same procedure over and over and over can get rather dull."

Grievous ignored the droid's ramblings and instead stared at the chips. He had partially been expecting a flood of emotion, or memory, or at least something. In truth, he did not feel any different.

"Droid!" Grievous snarled, locking his eyes on the silly automaton, "Who put these in my head?"

"Sir, that is highly classified information, I am only sharing this with you since Dooku has passed," the droid sputtered, "I cannot in good faith-"

"Dooku is dead. I am in charge of the entire Confederacy," Grievous hissed, seizing the droid in his claws, "On that authority, I demand to know who betrayed me, so that their treachery may never again infect the CIS, and so that I can rip them apart with my hands alone. Who put those chips in my head?"

"The experiment was carried out by San Hill, acting on orders from Count Dooku."

"That pathetic slimeball," Grievous snarled, "I'll tear his heart out and feed it to him!"

"Sit still, will you?" A-4D quipped.

"Stupid droid," Grievous growled, swinging a damaged limb to try and strike him.

"Alright, you're getting sedated," the droid sighed, and once again, the world was dark.

More Time Passes…

Hmm. I don't feel any different.

Grievous was not sure how he expected to feel when he awoke. There was no rush of suppressed memories or emotions, like a part of him had been expecting. He searched within himself again, and could not find anything that felt different than before. He breathed in slowly, then released a long sigh. He did feel a little bit calmer though, but that might be a side effect of the drugs.

"I feel the same," Grievous snapped, "Did you screw up?"

"The bits you wanted out are out," A-4D ignored his tone, "I cannot speak for the feelings of organics, but from a medical standpoint, your instructions have been followed to the letter."

"Watch your tone with me, trashcan!" Grievous lazily swung a clawed hand at the droid, who avoided it easily. The drugs had not fully worn off yet, evidently.

"Where are we?" Grievous demanded.

"Kijimi," A-4D responded, "The fleet was in too bad of shape to reach Raxus or Utapau. Captain Dofine decided to have the most crippled ships make port here for repairs before returning to their deployments, while those able to continue on have returned to their posts along the borders."

"A good decision," Grievous nodded, then stopped himself, surprised.

I actually complimented that slimy Neimoidian. I'll have to be extra tough on him now to make up for it.

Grievous paused for a moment, then sat up slowly. After he was comfortable with that, he clambered slowly to his feet, then swept his tattered cloak over his shoulders. A-4D was busy cleaning up after the operation and paid Grievous no notice as he stomped out of the medical bay, joined by the two MagnaGuards who were guarding the door.

Grievous hurried along the ship's spine towards the bow, stomping swiftly onto the bridge with clanking feet and a series of hacking coughs announcing his presence.

"What's the situation, Captain?" Grievous growled, coming to a stop over a nervous-looking Neimoidian.

"We've made port in the Kijimi System," Captain Lushros Dofine reported, gesturing outside the viewport, towards the frozen planet below them, "A portion of our fleet is in no position to continue without risking losses. Those that can go on have spread out across the Rim, back to reinforce their positions."

"How is our fleet?" Grievous rasped, eyes narrow as he inspected the ships around them.

"We took a beating, but we gave them the worse of it," Dofine responded, "They gave us a pounding after you abducted the Chancellor, but they lost heart after the execution. We managed to punch our way out, and took minimal further losses on the fighting retreat to the jump point."

"Excellent," Grievous hissed, then lowered his voice so only Dofine could hear, "How many people know about Dooku?"

"Only you and I," Dofine answered, "I had an all-droid team clean the observation deck, and place Dooku's body in the morgue. I figured that you would prefer to break the news yourself, when it best suited us, rather than have it get out and deal with the aftermath."

The Republic is reeling, but if they knew that we were almost as bad as they were… Dofine you may have saved the war.

"Keep it that way," Grievous growled menacingly, "We don't want to lose our advantage by falling apart now."

"So what now?" Dofine asked, looking at Grievous expectantly.

By blood-filled stars, I'm in charge now!

"Get me a shuttle," Grievous ordered, "I need to return to Utapau, to address those cowardly slimes we control the corporations."

And especially San Hill, that slippery slimeball.

"What of the war?" Dofine asked idiotically, earning a glare from Grievous.

"Does it look like we've won?" Grievous snapped, "The war goes on, I'll fill you in during the conference. Rest here while you can, Captain. We will not waste this opportunity."

A/N

Heavily borrowed from and inspired 'A Single Decision,' credit to Timewatch where credit is due. This is, in my mind, the most logical way for the Chancellor to be disposed of. This was one of the moments where Palpatine gambled, and lost control of a situation. In this AU, that comes back to bite him.

And to the people who wanna say that this destroys the Chosen One Prophecy: does it? By killing Dooku, Anakin creates the series of events necessary for Palpatine to die, and he dies too. In one swoop, this eliminates the Sith and the Chosen One, to create the events necessary for a real war to unfold, where once there only was a charade.