A lone probe drifted through the vast emptiness of space. It had lost power in its thrusters days ago, now only relying on the gravity of distant stars and planets to move itself. It had drifted for a while now; two weeks since the Second Battle of Geonosis, if its internal clocks were calibrated correctly. The device was far beyond its own galaxy at this point, so far in fact that it could only determine its location through measuring its angle and velocity with relation to the last known point on the Republic space grid. Certainly, the probe was lost and had no use further than becoming a shooting star on some distant world.
Or so the Republic thought.
~~~Republic Cruiser Valiance, Outer Rim, 17 days after the Second Battle of Geonosis~~~
The bridge of the Valiance was bustling with activity. Most of the commotion were communications officers monitoring the chatter of unprotected transmissions from neighboring outer-rim systems, but the occasional technical worker and soldier would come in to pester the commander-on-deck about some minor issue that probably didn't need his attention anyways. At the front of it all stood a brown, towering, but thin nautolan Jedi, wearing long robes a shade darker than his own skin. He stood there, facing the window that peered into the white-dotted nothingness of space, simultaneously drowning out the noise of his surroundings with his meditation.
"It sure wouldn't hurt to get some action around here, would it, general?"
Being addressed broke the Jedi out of his calm state, though his expression remained concrete.
"Eager to get yourself killed, are you commander?" the Jedi asked with no hint of sarcasm.
The commander shifted from attention to looking away from the Jedi, indicating his want to leave the question unanswered. But he would not ignore his superior. "Of course not, general, it's just that we're soldiers; we're meant to be fighting," he finally stated.
"Blip, don't think of you and your men as lowly soldiers, bred to die needlessly. You are living entities, meant to exist beyond the battlefield. I will not lose any of you for the purpose of alleviating boredom."
"I...I understand that, sir," Blip stuttered. "But, in all seriousness, combat beats stressing over little details any day," he continued sarcastically.
The Jedi had to chuckle at that. He finally opened his eyes and looked down at his commander. "Still stubborn as always, Blip. It's good to see that the lack of excitement hasn't dampened your sense of humor."
Blip shrugged as best as he could with his helmet in the crux of his arm before placing it on his head. "I suppose I should get back to my oh-so-exciting job now. Nice chat, General Poh."
"Anytime, my friend," said the general before diverting his attention back to the window. He could see the reflection of Blip walking away, waist armor swaying slightly due to the breeze generated by his walking.
An hour or so passed in uneventfulness before one of the communications officers detected a faint signal from a Republic probe droid. After a few minutes of tracing where the signal was sent from, the officer stood to confront his commander.
He found the commander, clad in his solid black armor, standing in front of a hologram projection table, conversing with a hologram of a technician. He waited for the commander to finish before approaching him with his findings.
"Commander Blip, sir, I've picked up a transmission from a Republic probe. I'm trying to trace it, but each time I do, it traces the signal to outside of our space grid."
"That's quite peculiar. Are you sure you're doing the tracing correctly?"
"Yes sir. But I think you should see this for yourself and report it to General Poh."
Blip agreed and followed the communications officer to his terminal, where he watched the trooper repeat his tracing procedure, receiving the same results.
"Trooper, I want you to listen to the transmission and save any data that you receive; I'm going to inform the general."
"Yes sir," said the trooper before beginning his new assignment.
General Poh was standing in the same spot as before. This time, he was fully aware of his surroundings, and quickly turned to face Blip when he felt him coming.
"You have pressing things to tell me?" Poh asked Blip matter-of-factly.
"Uh, yes sir. One of our comm officers has received a transmission from a Republic probe from outside of the Republic space grid. He's listening to it right now, we'll have its data in a second."
Approximately a quarter of an hour had passed since Blip informed the general of the findings. General Poh stood in front of the hologram projection table, which was currently showing the images of Mace Windu, Plo Koon, Ki-Adi Mundi, and Yoda.
"Poh Drüne, it is a pleasure to see you still alive," Plo Koon said.
"Indeed it is, Master Plo, but we should converse with haste. Poh, you have important findings to tell us of?" asked Ki-Adi.
"Yes, Master Mundi, I do," Poh replied. "One of the communications officers had detected a signal from a Republic probe, but its location was from beyond the space grid. Blip is transferring the data given by the probe to you now."
Each Jedi gestured to Poh that they had received the data before Blip began a quick briefing.
"Now, generals, as you can see, the probe has supplied us with a few images of an enormous planet. We could only get one clear image of the surface before the probe lost contact. We can assume that the probe was incinerated in the planet's atmosphere before it could give us more images. The planet's location is beyond that of the Republic space grid, indicating that it is beyond our galaxy. The probe gave us a velocity, angle, and its last known coordinate on the Republic space grid. Using this information, we could track down the planet."
Blip paused for a moment to allow the Jedi to take in all he had said.
"Normally, we wouldn't intervene with the going-ons of extragalactic systems, but if you take a look at this image," Blip said as he brought a blurry image up on the table, "you can see a Munificent-class Frigate in orbit around the planet." He zoomed in on the image and set the resolution to its highest setting to prove his statement. And sure enough, the hexagonal logo of the Confederacy of Independent Systems could be made out on the hull of the ship. "As such, it is my recommendation that we send something to stop that vessel."
After a moments pause, Mace spoke up. "Thank you, commander. We can make our decision without you; go back to your duties." And with that, Blip saluted and walked away.
"Unexpected and curious, the Separatists actions are," Yoda stated. "Careful we must be."
"If we are to behave cautiously, then we should probably leave that ship alone and send another probe to monitor it. Our forces are stretched thin; we cannot risk sending our troops into unchartered space," Plo announced.
There was an awkward pause before Ki-Adi spoke up. "We cannot simply ignore them. They must have...special interest in that planet if Dooku has sent a cruiser there. I think the best course of action would be to send some forces there to inhibit their operations, or at least find out what they're doing."
"I must agree with Master Mundi," said Mace. "We need to be aware of our enemy's intentions with that planet, and intervene if necessary-"
"Which we most likely will," interrupted Ki-Adi.
Mace ignored the interruption. "We should investigate as soon as possible. Poh, your fleet is the closest, so you should follow the probe's directions and stop the Separatists. Obi-Wan's fleet is not in combat, so his ships could replace yours while you do this."
Plo and Ki-Adi stated their agreements.
"It is decided then. Go, you will, to this new planet, and find out what the Separatists have found," Yoda said to Poh. "And may the Force be with you." The others said the same, drawing the meeting to an end. Poh strode away from the now deactivated table towards the window, where he could usually be found. He felt unsure of what to make of his orders; sure he wanted to stop the Separatists, but he didn't want to send his men into the inevitable battle that would come of their arrival. After all, his troops were designated to monitor transmissions, not to fight.
"Something troubling you, sir?" Poh heard Blip say behind him. How had Poh not felt him approach? That was a question for later; right now, he needed to confide in his commander.
"Commander, it looks like you'll be getting your action fix after all." Despite being completely armored, Poh could still almost see Blip grin in anticipation. "Tell me, how well do the men on this ship do in combat?"
Blip took a second to formulate his response. "General, even the men who get assigned to more...technical fields...go through basic training, and are still worth two to three B1's each. And the Valiance is worth at least three of whatever piece of crap cruisers the CIS can throw at us. There's only one of those, however, so we've got no worries."
Poh stood still, staring out the window for another minute, contemplating the reassurance he had just received. He turned to Blip, the black orbs of his eyes showing his calm determination to the commander.
"Blip, have our path prepared as soon as possible, and ready the men for quick and swift victory."
"Yes sir!" Blip declared enthusiastically while saluting. He quickly turned and began shouting the orders to prepare the ship for flight. Poh looked back to the window, smiling, suddenly realizing how anxious he was for the upcoming skirmish.
~~~Republic Cruiser Valiance, Unchartered Space, 18 days after the Second Battle of Geonosis~~~
The view of the galaxy was breathtaking. Even the resolute troopers on the outer halls, who had places to be and things to do as soon as possible, had to stop and admire the galaxy. Their galaxy.
Blip stood silent as he stared at the elliptical, glowing mass in front of him. He felt relaxed, and felt the stresses of being a commanding officer melt away as he stared out the window towards the galaxy. This is what he was fighting for, he realized. The galaxy needed to be preserved, and the Republic would be the ones to do it. He would not let the Separatists degrade his beautiful collection of stars and planets. With renewed vigor and sense of purpose, he turned away to return to his job.
The Valiance had been moving for a few hours now. They would be at the location given by the probe in a couple hours, which annoyed Blip; since they could have been there an hour ago had they jumped to hyperspace. The reasoning against it was sound, though. Hyperspace travel was dangerous even on known routes; doing so outside of the galaxy with no knowledge of what lies ahead would be almost guaranteed suicide. They also needed to plot their route so that the Republic could follow them later and get to the new planet.
New planet. It dawned on Blip that he was a part of the first group of clones to explore new planets outside of his galaxy. He felt very important at that moment; there seemed like nothing that could dampen his mood...except for the realization that he had a tendency to jinx himself. Right on cue, a technical worker approached him about an almost insignificant problem with the hyperdrive that really needed none of his jurisdiction in the first place.
With the hyperdrive issue sorted out and a little less that an hour and fifteen minutes until they arrived at the last known location of the probe, Blip decided to chat with General Poh. He made his way to the bridge and found that...Poh wasn't there? Odd; he was almost always there at this time. Confused, Blip asked the captain overseeing the bridge where Poh was, and was told that he had excused himself to his cabin due to a sudden throbbing pain in his head.
Blip decided that now it would be best to check on General Poh and do what he can to help alleviate his condition. He made it to Poh's cabin with an hour left until the ship reached its destination. As Blip approached the door to Poh's cabin to knock, it suddenly opened, confusing him. I thought the door to Jedi cabins only opened for them from the outside?
"Please, come in and talk, commander," Blip heard Poh say from inside the cabin. Blip entered the small room. He was surprised by how small it was. It appeared to only be able to house four or five standard sized bunks, though, of course, it didn't. It had one bunk in the far right corner, where Poh was seated, meditating, and had a closet in the opposite corner. It had no other distinguishing features, except for the elevated ceiling to accommodate the general's six foot seven frame. The general was certainly a giant amongst nautolans.
"Uh, yes, sir..." Blip stammered and removed his helmet. "I was just coming to check on you. You weren't on the bridge like you normally are at this time, and when I heard you were hurting, I wanted to make sure you were doing, uhm..., well..."
"I appreciate your concern, commander," Poh said, interrupting Blip's train of thought. "I must admit, I don't know how I'm feeling. It feels complicated; I think you'd need an open mind and knowledge of the Force to understand it."
"Knowledge of the Force?" Blip repeated, making sure he heard Poh correctly. His question was met with a nod. "I'm no Jedi, so I can't help you there, but I have more medical knowledge than you, so maybe you should try telling me how you're feeling so we can determine whether or not you need medical attention. I'll try to understand as best as I can."
Poh smiled, but otherwise remained motionless. "Blip, this is why I've always liked you. Despite you're insistence on getting shot at, you still care about life, and you're much more open-minded than your brethren. Were you aware that most clones ignore and avoid conversation about the Force?"
"Thanks sir. Yes, I'm aware that my brothers have a disposition towards the Force. I'm not fond of it myself, but if I'm to understand how the Jedi and Sith fight, I'm willing to talk about it. However, I think you should tell me what you're feeling so we can help you."
"I told the captain on the deck that my head was throbbing. This is only partly true. While yes, my head is hurting; it's my connection to the Force that concerns me. Pain in general, but more specifically to the head, will reduce a Jedi's connection to the Force, for pain makes it more difficult for a Jedi to feel it flowing and control it."
Blip nodded slowly, not saying anything, but clearly displayed confusion on his face.
"Allow me to provide an example. I've had headaches like this before, usually after a large blow to the head, and felt unable to sense living things unless they were close by. So normally, I would have only known you were approaching my cabin once you were close, and then I would have struggled to open the door for you."
Blip remained silent, but understood the general's point.
"This is not the case," Poh continued. "While I am still hurting, I can feel my connection to the force grow stronger. To continue my example, I could feel your concern for my well-being as soon as you were told where I had gone. It is...unnatural."
"But sir, isn't it a Jedi's goal to connect to the Force as best as possible? Why is this an issue?" asked Blip.
"Because I have not trained myself for this level of connection. I have not grown in the Force, which is a Jedi's objective. This is sudden; too sudden. It is causing me pain. And it is increasing as we move forward. The Force is highly present wherever we are going."
"I...I believe I understand sir. Sadly, I do not think there is much we can do without turning back, which is against our directive. Can you withstand the pain?"
"For now, yes. I want you to stay with me. I will try to let you know when I cannot bear it, and when I do, put me under. It is risky to let the Force flow through me without control."
"I will, sir," said Blip. And for the next half hour, they sat without speaking. Blip could tell that Poh was struggling to control his pain and, apparently, the Force. The general's eyes shut tighter, and the creases around his eyes grew thicker as time passed. Blip had to admire his general's ability to stay still and meditate in spite of the pressure he was under.
Five minutes until the destination was reached. Blip stood where Poh usually did, and stared out at the planet now visible and increasing in size. Despite the distance from the planet, the reflection of it off of his visor was still sizeable, covering almost a quarter of it.
Poh had cracked under the pain a few minutes prior, so staying in his cabin seemed useless, especially since their objective was so close. Blip had never led a mission, though. He could fight, sure, but he wasn't sure how he would handle calling all of the shots. He sighed before turning around to face his crew, now clad in armor instead of their officer uniforms.
Blip marched to his navigation team. "Get us within firing range of the planet's surface. I want to be able to bombard any facilities the CIS might have down there."
The team acknowledged his request and set about determining the best altitude for them to drift at.
The planet was massive; it had to be at least three times the size of Coruscant. Blip sighed again as he realized that he could not scour a planet that size with one cruiser whose occupants were primarily communications and technical officers and without causing damage to the sedated Jedi. Way to plan ahead, he thought.
Suddenly, an alarm sounded. "We've got Seps on our tail!" someone shouted. Blip was about to begin issuing commands when a Separatist cruiser ended a hyperspace jump in front of them. They were being ambushed. They were unprepared. Blip's morale was decimated.
~~~Separatist Frigate Superior, Orbit of Extragalactic Planet-01 (EGP-01), 17 days after the Second Battle of Geonosis~~~
General Grievous observed the crew of his frigate as they worked. He stood tall and still, only moving his head to watch a different set of droids work on their task. They were surprisingly efficient when tasked with non-combat related roles; something that irked the general. But he was glad at that moment to have such effective workers. They needed no food, no rest, no restroom breaks, and didn't need to talk to communicate. The absence of such trivial distractions made the process of observing and mapping the planet near him a quick process. And the faster he could have the planet mapped, the faster he could return to the war.
No, he shouldn't think about the war. Thinking about the war caused his thoughts to turn to the Jedi, the foul scum that betrayed his people. And thinking of his people made him irritable, impatient, and aggressive, all of which was detrimental to progress...under normal circumstances.
Grievous was fuming when he was assigned a reconnaissance mission, but he would still comply. Strangely, he found himself calming down and his mood improving the closer he got to the planet. He felt quite different, but he couldn't say he disliked how he felt. He attributed this to his excitement about being the first to explore this planet and to how rapidly the mission was being accomplished.
Grievous let his thoughts wander like this for a few minute before deciding that it was time to get a progress report. He walked up to the droid who was overseeing the operation and demanded one.
"Probes one through eight have no new updates. We've lost probe 10, it was attacked by what appeared to be a large reptile. Probes eleven and twelve have no new updates. Probe thirteen is still not transmitting. Probe fourteen has located a new settlement and is currently heading to it. Probe fifteen is still destroyed. Frigates Mighty and Fracture have nothing to report."
Grievous grunted his acknowledgement of the report and was midway through turning around when the droid spoke up again.
"We have also detected an anomaly."
Grievous turned to face the droid again and stared at it inquisitively.
"We intercepted a transmission from what we have determined to be a Republic probe droid in the vicinity. Probe nine had confirmed it; our probe saw its combustion in the planet's atmosphere at the time we were intercepting the transmission. We managed to obtain two pieces of data from the intercepted transmission: an image of our frigate orbiting the planet and the location of the transmission's original recipient; a Republic cruiser located in the outer rim."
"Very good, commander," Grievous commented. "I will consult with Count Dooku and determine our next move." He turned from the droid without interruption and headed for his chambers. Once there, he activated his hologram projection table and made to contact Dooku.
A response came about five minutes later. Grievous bowed slightly as Dooku said, "You should know better than to interrupt me during my meditation, General." The aggravated expression on his face showed that he wanted to end the conversation quickly.
The general looked up to the hologram of Dooku. "Indeed I do, but I have important information. A Republic probe has exposed our operation here. I am certain that they will respond."
"Good. The Republic is acting predictable as always. They will come soon, Grievous. You know what to do. Try to leave their vessel as intact as possible."
Grievous perked up at Dooku's last statement.
"You must trust me on this, General. You are to meet with the planet's leader as soon as the Republic is dealt with, and that is much easier without a hailstorm of wrecked ship falling to the surface. You have determined the leader of the planet, haven't you?"
"The planet has no distinct leader, Count, but I have found the one who holds the most influence on the world, and I will meet with her after the Republic forces are destroyed."
Dooku's expression remained unchanged, though his voice clearly conveyed his satisfaction. "Good. I expect to hear of your success soon." And with that, Dooku ended the conversation.
Grievous had his orders. He was going to enjoy himself.
~~~Separatist Frigate Superior, Orbit of EGP-01, 18 days after the Second Battle of Geonosis~~~
The trap was a simple one, really. Once the Republic ships arrived, Fracture would jump behind them and Mighty would jump in front, and hopefully the ambush would prevent the Republic from launching any fighters to combat the boarding team that Grievous had assembled. Grievous was certain of his victory; the ambush should quickly destroy one or two of the Republic cruisers, then their overpowering numbers would take out the remaining ones. This was all theoretical, of course, but Grievous’s spirits were high.
Superior got into position to launch the boarding ships while Mighty and Fracture confirmed that they were in position. It wouldn't be long now.
Two hours later, Superior's scanners found a Republic vessel. It came from the predicted direction and was moving slow; Grievous had quite the advantage now.
Then it dawned on him. Only one cruiser? The Republic usually sends them in groups of two to four. This may be a trap...
It was a risk worth taking; at least he was out of the Republic's range, so he could retreat if things went awry. "Fracture, spring the trap. Aim ion cannons towards their hyperdrive and their thrusters, refrain from firing main weapons until fired upon. Mighty, launch. Concentrate your cannon-fire at the bridge, try to disable their guns with you ion cannons," Grievous commanded via radio.
A couple of moments later, Fracture and Mighty had jumped to surround the Republic vessel and began the assault. The Republic must not have has their shields up, Grievous assed, for it was obvious that the ion cannons were crippling the ship rapidly. Sadly, the bridge remained intact. Several seconds later, Grievous could tell that the Republic had finally put up their shields and began retaliating, to little effect.
"The Republic ship's thrusters are completely dead, sir," a droid reported.
"Good. Redirect all fire to their weapon systems and escape pods; the boarding team will take out the crew." With that order, Grievous turned to enter his ship.
~~~Republic Cruiser Valiance, Orbit of Unknown Planet, 18 days after the Second Battle of Geonosis~~~
Blip stood on the bridge, gripping the table in front of him tightly as explosions rocked the cruiser. How had the Separatists known we were coming, and how did I not prepare for an ambush like this? His thoughts were interrupted by another explosion near the base of the bridge.
The shields were now up and some of the batteries were returning fire, but the ambush left the thrusters useless and almost half of the guns out of commission. The shakings ceased somewhat as Blip noticed that the enemies were firing at his guns. This confused Blip. If the Separatists wanted them dead, they could have done so in a matter of minutes by continuing fire on the thrusters. No, they wanted the ship intact...they wanted something on the ship.
"Captain," Blip said as another explosion caused the bridge to move violently. "I need all of the data on this ship sent to Coruscant and removed from all of the hard drives immediately!"
"Yes, sir," the captain replied. He stayed where he was, however, looking at something distant that Blip couldn’t make out. "Are those boarding craft?" the captain asked after a few seconds of consideration. Blip remained silent and watched the suspicious objects get closer. After several seconds, he could determine that they were, indeed, boarding craft.
"Captain, get working on that data now!" demanded Blip. "I'm going to take as many men as I can find to stop the intruders. Work diligently."
"Yes, sir. Good luck, sir," the captain said as he went to the master terminal to begin is assignment.
The boarding craft were making good time. By Grievous's calculations, they would be at the Republic ship in a couple of minutes. He had five ships heading for the Republic; there were six originally, but one was blasted to bits by Republic guns.
CRASH!
That was signal that meant he had hit is mark. The craft opened up into a hallway, quite the lucky landing spot unless an ambush was waiting there. Grievous confirmed this false when a commando droid leapt from the craft to face no resistance.
The commando droid signaled that it was all clear, and Grievous let the other nine commandos with him leave before he left himself. There were no clones nor any signs of them around, leaving Grievous without a heading. Grievous felt a tug to his right, but saw nothing there. He couldn't explain the feeling, but felt that it might be worth his while to follow that direction.
Grievous walked at a mild pace while the commando droids surrounding him ran ahead and checked each room that they passed, which was few in number. He continued his stroll for a few minutes, avoiding debris and the occasional explosion before finally hearing the sounds of combat around the corner. Upon hearing this, he activated one of his lightsabers and equipped his pistol, and prepared himself for the upcoming skirmish. He turned the corner to find three battle droids and a super battle droid taking fire from a small group of clones. One of the clones in the back of the group was wearing solid black armor as well as waist armor and a pauldron, and was leaning around the corner periodically to fire his weapon at the droids. Grievous determined him to be the commander.
Grievous immediately started walking towards the clones, spinning his blue blade in a circular motion at dizzying speeds while shooting at the clones with his pistol. He strode closer to the clones in slow, menacing steps, lightsaber acting as a shield while he took careful aim at the clones foolish enough to not take cover. He fired slowly, but accurately, acquiring three headshots with his first three attacks.
He had covered half the distance between his droids and the group of clones before a clone primed a grenade and shouted "Droid-popper out!" The clone raised his arm to throw the grenade, but was shot in the chest while doing so, dropping it amidst his allies. "Get back!" another clone, presumably the black one, shouted, and the clones attempted to flee from the grenade. Three clones were caught in the blast radius, forcing their helmets to remain sealed on their head, with their breathing filters no longer operating, dooming them to death by asphyxiation.
Just as Grievous was about to continue his advance, a group of about twenty clones filed around a distant corner to confront him and his droids. The commando droids around him were about to open fire, but Grievous signaled them to hold. Grievous felt like severing a lot of limbs, and this was the opportunity to get his fix fixed. He stowed away his pistol and retrieved another lightsaber from his waist. The green blade shot to life as he readied himself to charge at the oncoming clones.
He sprinted as soon as the first few clones reached the corner where the remnants of the first group of clones were taking cover. His impromptu shield kept spinning at a quick and steady rate as he brought his green blade low. Upon reaching the first clone, he raised his blue lightsaber, spun and uppercutted with the green one, slicing the clone's chest. He followed the move up by swinging both his lightsabers in circles, angled in a way to cover his entire being. Grievous remained in this defensive stance as he separated his arms. After brandishing two more lightsabers, each one with a blue blade, he leapt into the group of clones. None stood a chance; limbs littered the ground at his feet.
Blip stood behind a corner waiting for the enemy's fire to falter before attacking again. He and the eight or so clones around him had been at this for a few minutes now, and had taken down most of the droids at the end of the corridor. Three battle droids and one super battle droid remained. There was a subtle hissing sound that came from the other end of the hallway, but Blip dismissed it as another one of his ship's systems failing. Finally, the droids' fire let up, allowing him to lean around the corner and fire at the cyborg heading his direction...Oh crap! Grievous!
This was an unexpected turn of events. He had heard stories of this beast in combat, and had always wanted to see him fight. Now is my chance, I suppose.
The general was slowly approaching the Republic forces. The clone across the hall from Blip decided to try using an EMP grenade on him. Blip watched the clone prepare to throw the grenade, only to be shot dead immediately after raising his arm. Blip was unsure of whether or not an EMP would affect his armor or not, but he was not willing to take a chance with that. Apparently, neither were the rest of the clones around him, but three didn't make it. On the bright side, Blip learned that being EMP'd in your armor will kill you...slowly...and probably painfully. Blip returned to the corner he had been at a few seconds earlier, and noted that he and one other trooper were the only ones in the hall to oppose the droid general.
Miraculously, Blip could hear the footsteps of a significant number of reinforcements approaching. Not long after, he could see his allies shooting in Grievous's direction. Oddly, there was no return fire. Did they take the general by surprise? His query was answered when he saw a corpse drop next to him, chest sliced from waist to shoulder. A second later, Grievous was in the center of the group of clones, four glowing blades of death swinging everywhere at once.
Blip couldn’t move. This was the most horrifying thing to witness. Never before had he seen something go through so many clones so quickly, mercilessly, and effortlessly. His view was directed to the floor of the corridor, which had been clear of too much refuse just a minute before. Now, it was littered with a mosaic of fragments of his brothers. He could run, but there was no point. Blip stood still, accepting his fate.
Much to Grievous's chargin, those clones provided to be no challenge at all. Not that he was surprised; a being with superior speed, agility, and reflexes such as himself in a tight corridor with four lightsabers was certain to give his opponents almost no chance, but he hadn't even received a glancing blow. It had been a little more than a minute since the Republic reinforcements had arrived, and already their entrails were covering the floor and walls of the hall. His attention was diverted to a lone figure standing in the hall perpendicular to the one he was in; it was the same black-clad trooper from before. Grievous could tell that he had given up, a wise decision in the general's opinion.
"You win, general,” the clone said, dropping his weapons and putting his arms up. "We surrender. Give me your demands, kill me if you want, but spare my men."
Grievous considered him for a moment before replying "Very well." He deactivated and replaced his lightsabers before proceeding. "I want you to take me to your Jedi general. That is all."
The medical facility was incredibly intact, despite the beating that the ship had endured, which had ceased since his surrender. There was only one live patient in the facility; General Poh. He was resting on a bunk with an IV pumping sedatives into his system. He had been out like this for a while, and was blissfully unaware of the chaos that now surrounded him.
"Here he is, Grievous. Now, with regards to my m-" Blip was cut off by a green shaft of light penetrating his back and out of his chest.
"Your services are no longer needed, commander, and your crew is doomed," Grievous said as he withdrew his blade, Blip's corpse slumping to the floor with a solid thump. "Search the rest of the ship; kill any survivors, clone and droid alike. Take as much intel as you can from the bridge. I'll deal with the Jedi," he commanded to this droid escort, which now consisted of almost fifteen commando droids, ten battle droids, a couple super battle droids, and six magna guards.
The members of his escort turned to leave, but looked back to the sedated Jedi as his arm rose. Grievous was surprised to seen this, so decided to observe the Jedi before executing him. He watched as the Jedi's arm slowly extended completely above him, palm flat and facing the ceiling. One of the magna guards began to rise slowly, stopping after being elevated around three feet. The Jedi's hand suddenly clenched into a fist, and the magna guard just as suddenly crumpled into a small mass of metal. The once magna guard continued to compress, smaller than what seemed physically possible. It was then that Grievous noticed that the metal was actually beginning to melt due to heat generated by the intense pressure of whatever force was squeezing it.
Grievous had seen enough. He sauntered over to the Jedi, and looked into his still unconscious face. This was indeed a freak occurrence, but he'd have to confront Dooku about it later; currently, he had a trophy to acquire.
The bridge was silent except for the frantic button pressing of the lone occupant; a clone in black-streaked armor who sat at a terminal. He had been working more slowly than he would have liked, probably due to the jarring explosions that were rocking the ship. He was surprised that he became more nervous and slow when the enemy stopped firing. He knew that something was wrong; the ship felt empty. He couldn't help but feel that he had lost too many brothers in the surprisingly quick battle that had ensued.
But that isn't important right now, he mentally scolded himself. I still have an important job to do and don't need these distractions. A couple minutes passed before the clone sighed a sigh of relief. He had finally finished transferring all of the ships information out of the ship and purged all of its hard drives.
And not a moment too soon.
He drew his weapon as he heard the elevator door to the bridge open and saw two commando droids leap out. They were upon him immediately, and before he could react, he had taken a hit to the leg and a hit to the chest. He slumped his back against the terminal, taking quick, short breaths, knowing they would be his last. The commando droids walked up to him, scanning his vitals to determine if he was just another casualty suffered.
Using the last of his strength, the clone stood and tackled the droid in front of him, using the droid to propel himself towards the distress signal. A shot was fired, and the clone's corpse flew into the terminal, pressing every button on it.
His sacrifice was not in vain.
~~~Separatist Frigate Superior, Orbit of IGP-01, 20 days after the Second Battle of Geonosis~~~
Grievous was ecstatic about his overwhelming victory. Even Dooku was impressed at how efficiently Grievous had handled the operation. Even more impressive was how well his units stood up to the test. There were only a few dozen casualties, most of which were useless B1's anyways.
And now it was time for the second phase of Dooku's plan. Grievous watched as droids reorganized the shuttle, which was to ferry him to the planet's surface. It would be a couple hours more until he would get his opportunity to leave; it was still being unloaded of sets of clone armor and, disturbingly, an equal number of clone corpses, which had been commandeered for later use. Or so Dooku had informed Grievous. He was unsure of what to make of such...grotesque measures, but he would not argue.
~~~Separatist Shuttle Inheritor, Atmosphere of IGP-01, 6 hours after the Ambush at IGP-01~~~
The planet was beautiful...or at least would be to Grievous if he cared for that stuff. Large forests occupied most of the land that passed underneath the shuttle, but the occasional calm lake and slow moving river would show up amongst the trees, reflecting the bright midday sun. The land was certainly luscious and plentiful, good features for a planet to have when one wishes to occupy it. Not that Grievous wanted to occupy the planet; in fact, he had very little idea where Dooku was taking his plot, but being Dooku's apprentice, Grievous was forced to comply.
Down below, the forest began shifting from a bright shade of green to a darker one, and the trees became fuller. From his location in the cockpit, the ground was not visible underneath the canopy. He couldn't imagine that there is a lot of light in that forest, which may explain why his probes had observed the world's inhabitants to avoid it and create rumors about it. But this was not important, for Grievous's destination was finally in view.
The mountain was the tallest landmark that the probes had found in the region, and it was also the resting place of the regions capital. His research had determined that the city was called 'Canterlot'. Grievous had to admire how strategically well built the fortress-city was; it occupied the highest point for miles around and seemed well fortified, at least for this civilization's level of technological advancement.
Canterlot was fast approaching, and thus came the difficult task of landing and requesting an audience with their leader without causing panic. Grievous determined that the best way to do this would be to simply be straightforward with his presence and intentions. Grievous's co-pilot located a large, horizontal patch on the side of the mountain opposite of Canterlot after Grievous shared his thoughts with it, and he figured it was the best place to land since he had seen no other alternatives. After landing, Grievous stepped onto the solid ground and looked over his forces: two magna guards, one droid commando captain, and four droid commandos, one of which was to stay with the vehicle.
The group began their hike around the mountain, which turned out to be surprisingly easy, despite the mountain's steep slope. After walking for around twenty minutes, the main gate to Canterlot came into view. It was a massive stone structure, probably 60 to 70 feet high; complete with large wooden doors, battlements and catwalks on top, and two noble looking guards...who were ponies...with tiny spears.
Grievous didn't know what to make of them. He had know that this civilization was underdeveloped, and he had thought that he was okay with that, but seeing the two guards, standing tall and proud with their useless play-things, with his own eyes was really different. They looked more pathetic than he expected, and was tempted to laugh his first sincere and geuine laugh in a long while.
Finally composing himself, Grievous stood up and marched towards the guards, standing at his full height, arms swaying at his sides, ready to grab his pistol should the guards react violently. Not hat they could hurt him if they did.
"Halt, uhm, who goes there...?" one of the guards said shakily as they raised their spears at his towering frame. Grievous was easily twice their height when standing with proper posture like he was now, one of the many features that he used to strike fear into his opposers, like the guards before him. He couldn't tell if the guard had made a demand or had asked him a question, so he settled on replying with "I am Grievous, and I need an audience with your princesses immediately."
After agreeing to relinquish he and his company's weapons to the guards, they, as well as a few other guards who found interest in the scene, where headed to the throne room of the castle. Phase two of Dooku's plan was complete.