Chapter Text
“Sir? Are we supposed to be doing this?” A battle droid asked him from a control console. Smart droid, it asked him that while he was on the other side of the bridge while performing necessary tasks. Otherwise he would have smacked its head off. So instead he just glowered at the B1 before answering.
“I am the Supreme Commander of this army. My orders are the only ones that matter!” He responded. The droid let out a sigh. That was a no then.
“Yes sir.” At least that would be the end of it. Grievous turned back to the main viewport, they hadn’t left Hyperspace yet but they would soon. It had been weeks since the war started and he still hadn’t been allowed to reveal himself. That time still hadn’t come, but why not give the Republic a taste of what was to come? No, he would not reveal himself, not fully, but they would know that something was coming for them, and after this? They would be drowning in fear.
“Sir, we’re approaching Yam’Ryn. Your orders?” Another droid asked.
“I want to block all communications from that planet. They will not be allowed to call for help. Not until I want them to.” Grievous snarled. Not long after that they dropped out of Hyperspace and for the first time in nearly twenty years he saw the world that had cost him so much.
“We’ve blocked their communications sir.” The first droid said, earning him a side eye.
“Already?”
“Yes sir, I made sure we would be ready to begin jamming since we were so close to the target.” Maybe just this once he was glad he hadn’t smashed a droid to pieces. This one seemed smart enough to actually be useful. Well, there had to be one out of the millions being produced.
“Show off.” Another droid closer to him huffed. Now that one he did take the head off of.
“Prepare the ships. We’re going to the surface.” He said, turning to leave the bridge. “Leave no bug left alive.”
He remembered being here before, years ago, when the pain of losing Ronderu was still fresh. That pain was still here, it felt fresh all over again, but it was strange… Like it was further away. It was hard to wrap his head around. Perhaps it was the time that he had forgotten her, putting something of a barrier between how much it hurt and who he was now. But he had plenty of time to think about that later, for now he had to focus.
Droids were marching on the Yam’Ryn capital; he had already bombarded every major space port. There would be no escape from their well deserved fate. The Republic would not save them again.
Grievous grabbed two of his sabers before leaping off the ship, landing not only amongst the Huk but crushing several of them as he did. There were shrieks as dust and blood was kicked up by his landing, he stayed crouched for a moment before igniting the sabers and cutting down those Huk that were either brave or stupid enough to investigate. From there it was a blur: letting his anger fuel his massacre of the Huk, commanding the droids to out flank them, the sound of exoskeleton giving way beneath his feet. He continued to tear through their numbers like a man possessed. This was it. His redemption for failing Kalee what felt like a lifetime ago. Yam’Ryn was going to fall, and these damned bugs would never again torment another world.
And yet… Any satisfaction he got from killing the Huk faded quickly. Why. Why?! This is what he’d wanted, what he’d set out to do before the Jedi interfered and left him in this mechanized prison! Grievous returned one saber to his cape, grabbing the last surviving Huk by the throat and ripping its head clear off. Again, the satisfaction was gone after just a moment. He snarled, crushing the head in his grasp before tossing the gore aside.
“General?” A droid said from behind him. Grievous turned, ready to lash out but the B1 was too far away from him to destroy without having to take several steps.
“What is it? Were my orders not clear to you stupid droids?” He snarled.
“They were, but General… We’ve found organics that don’t appear to be natives.” The droid ventured.
That gave him pause. Organics that weren’t the Huk? “What species are they?” He asked, brows furrowing under the faceplate. Or at least what was left of them.
“They appear to be mostly Kaleesh, sir. But there were also some Twi’Lek’s as well.” The droid replied. “We’re having trouble communicating with them, very few seem to speak any Basic.” The B1 continued but Grievous was no longer listening.
There were Kaleesh here. Kaleesh slaves . He’d started laying waste to the planet without even thinking about whether or not they had any slaves of their own here. How many of his own people had he killed thoughtlessly? In just a few steps he had crossed the distance between himself and the droid. It at least stopped talking while he approached. Perhaps this was the smart one from the bridge? If so it had left its post of relative safety to be out on the battlefield. Strange, but he had more important matters to deal with. “Take me to them.” He ordered.
The droid saluted. “Yes sir.” And it began to walk away immediately, Grievous following close behind. It soon led them back to a building that was less derelict than the others. He watched as the slaves, Kaleesh and Twi’Lek cowered at his appearance.
“Hey, move it.” Another B1 told one of his people, shoving her with its blaster.
“I told you not to do that!” The one with him snapped at the other.
“What? They’re just prisoners of war. And I’m a higher rank than you , Private. So just let me-” It didn’t get to say much more, how could it when its head had been caved into its chest cavity.
“Private was it?” Grievous said, turning his head to glance back at the droid with him. It nodded.
“Yes sir. Private R-0G3R. And that was Corporal-” It immediately shut up when the general lifted a hand. Good, there was only so much droid babbling he could handle.
“Then congratulations on your promotion, Corporal.” Grievous said. “Now… Give me time with these people.” He said, and the droid nodded again.
“You heard the General! Return to your posts!” The newly appointed Corporal ordered the other droids.
With that taken care of, Grievous turned his attention back to the slaves. “ You still speak our tongue, yes? ” He asked. The words felt… Odd, but familiar coming from his vocalizer. It had been some time since he had last spoken Kaleesh. The woman that had been pushed by the droid before nodded after a moment. There seemed to be a glimmer of recognition in her eyes as she looked up at his faceplate. Perhaps the half of his clan markings on it looked familiar to her? Most of Kalee knew them after a certain point, afterall. “ Good. I want you to spread the word, you are all being freed. ”
Her golden eyes widened in surprise. “ Then we’re not to be killed? Like the Huk? ” She asked, and he shook his head. She bowed her own in response. “ Thank you… For so long all we’ve known is servitude. What will happen to us? ”
So many of his people, taken during the war, and even afterwards as ‘reparations’ for the Huk. Finally, he could do something for them. Even though he knew that those he found here were only a fraction of those taken, it was a start. Better than what he’d been able to do for them in a long, long time. “ I’ll take you back to Kalee. ” He told her, and watched as she looked back at the others, most pointedly the Twi’Leks among them. “ They as well, Kaleesh or not. They have suffered in servitude long enough, and they will have a home among our people for as long as they wish. ” When she looked back at him some of her weariness seemed to have melted into relief.
The sense of satisfaction he’d been chasing since he set foot on this planet hit him again, and this time it did not dissipate as it had before. Finally . “ Rest now, you will be well taken care of from here on out. ” He assured her before turning and beginning to walk away. “Corporal!” He barked, and the smart droid from before reappeared quickly, as though waiting for his word.
“Yes General!” The droid said, saluting him.
“I want it to be known to every droid we have that any slaves that are found are to be removed and sent here, and that no harm befalls them. Am I understood?” He asked, stopping to look down at the droid.
“Yes sir, but there’s still the matter of the language barrier, if they’re afraid they may act out or get themselves hurt.” The droid said, making the cyborg tilt his head at the amount of thoughtfulness that was coming from the walking scrapheap. “What can we do to calm them?”
Grievous glanced back at the group of slaves, word seemed to have spread as they looked much more at ease now. “Hm… Hold still.” He ordered and the droid did just that, even as he lifted a hand up to its face and began scratching into it just above and then below the optical sensors. His clan sigil, one that would mark him of the Sheelals. “Those of the Kaleesh that see you will know who you represent. Now listen carefully and repeat after me.” He said before speaking a single sentence in Kaleesh, and only being satisfied after the droid spoke it back to him flawlessly eight times. “Good. Be it over comms, holo, or face to face, speak that and the Kaleesh will know our intent. And so will the others.”
“Yes sir, I’ll be sure to deliver the message. But, uh…” It began when the General started to walk away. He stopped and glared at it over his shoulder, a silent ‘but WHAT?’ hanging in the air. “What exactly does it mean?”
He turned his head away from the droid. “Your Khagan has come to free you.” He said before stalking back out into the warzone, cape fluttering in the wind along with dust and smoke.
Mace Windu looked out over the Senate assembly along with Master Yoda. This was supposed to be just another meeting about the war budget. “Something’s coming.” He said finally.
“Hm, yes. Not wait long for it to be revealed, I feel.” Yoda said, but spoke no more. Idle chit chat would not bring them answers any faster. Especially not when the representative from Yam’Ryn took the floor.
“We have been out of communication with Yam’Ryn for weeks now! No word, no trade, nothing has come out of our system!” The Representative said, gesturing with blade-like claws. “I put forward that you send in a ship, o-or a fleet! Or at least a Jedi to go check on the planet!”
“Now now, we should all remain calm.” Chancellor Palpatine said as he stood up, making an outward sweeping motion with his hands. “For now there is no evidence that anything is wrong. We could send out a shuttle to check on them once we have-”
“One of our communications finally went through!” Another of the Yam’Ryn representatives exclaimed.
“There are not supposed to be any outside communication while we are in session.” Mas Amedda proclaimed but he quieted down when Palpatine gestured to him.
“This could be just the reassurance the Yam’Ryn representatives need. Go on and put it through.” Palpatine said cordially. Mace and Yoda exchanged looks, this could be what drew them here.
The hologram of a frazzled and bloodied Yam’Rii appeared before the assembly. “Finally! We’ve been trying to get through for weeks!” The man chittered anxiously, the distant sound of blaster fire could be heard in the background. “Please! You must send help! We’ve been under siege this whole time by the Separatists! They have this… new droid general! He’s unstoppable! You need to send help quickly! There’s not much ti-” A skeletal, metallic hand shot down from above the Yam’Rii, big enough to grasp his head almost entirely. Many senators and representatives gasped in shock and a murmur fell over the assembly as they watched him scream and attempt to shoot his attacker. He only managed to get two rounds off before the Senate was greeted to a horrifying display: Watching his head be crushed like a grape.
That was when the panic and fear truly began to set in, it was unlikely that many of the politicians had seen someone die right before their eyes, especially in such a grotesque manner. “Order! We will have order!” Mas Amedda shouted above the din. Palpatine’s face had grown more grim as the message came through.
“As the Chancellor of the Galactic Republic I order you to show yourself.” He demanded all while keeping a regal stature. “Or are you to keep cowering behind anonymity?”
The hand released the Yam’Riis body and slowly pulled back out of frame, the sound of something heavy hitting the floor just out of the projectors range could be heard. “You will know. Soon.” Was the only response before the still gore covered hand reached back into frame to turn off the holoprojector. After that it was quiet for just a moment… Before the chamber erupted back into chaos.
“It seems we have yet another new foe to deal with…” Mace said as he and the Grand Master turned away and started walking out into the hall. They had seen enough.
“Send a ship we should, help those we can.” Yoda said, he closed his eyes and shook his head. “Deeply troubling this is…”
“I have someone in mind, I’ll send him out as soon as we return to the Temple.” Mace replied. “We can see just how much damage this new threat caused… The fact that no one was able to get in contact with Yam’Ryn until just now… This seems deliberate.” He said.
“Hm… A message sent, but of what kind, Yam’Rym’s? Or the attackers?” The Grand Master pondered as they kept walking.
“Either way, we’ll handle it. A droid leading droids may have overwhelmed an unprepared world but it’s nothing that we can’t handle.” Mace said. “We are Jedi, and this droid will fall just like the rest.”
The slaves had made it onto transports and were leaving the atmosphere, transports Grievous had to call in. He hadn’t come with the intention of freeing anyone, had completely forgotten about how his people had been enslaved somehow . And while not all of them survived… He’d done what he could, he was almost done with Yam’Ryn, allowing that transmission through was among the final steps.
He wanted the Republic to see what he did here. He wanted them to know it was deliberate. He wanted them to know he was coming for them . And he couldn’t very well do that unless he sent a message, to be sure they knew now, not weeks or months later down the line. Once the Republic, the Jedi, saw what he had done here… They would know to fear him. Fear won as many battles as a blade or blaster. Maybe more.
Grievous stared down at the world that had torn his own asunder when the same droid from before approached, light glinting off his clans sigil scratched into its faceplates. “Sir, the last ships have left the planet's surface, your orders?” It asked.
“Prepare our orbit to ground cannons.” Grievous said. “Leave nothing but blood and ash.”
“Yes sir.” The Corporal said, saluting before walking away to carry out his orders. From there… He watched. Watched the world beneath them be lit up with the bombardment. And he kept watching… Until the environment below glowed from the intensity of the fire and molten rock. After what felt like a lifetime Grievous turned from the viewport and stalked towards the lift.
After all these years… He had accomplished his goal. The Huk would terrorize his people no more. Justice at last. “Set course for Kalee, we’re leaving.” He ordered before stepping onto the lift. “These people need a home.” And he had people to see. His children, his last surviving wife. The thought of seeing them again filled him with trepidation. Would they accept him as he was now? Would his visage frighten the younger pups? Would Liana even be able to look him in the eye? But he was no coward, he would do this, he had to.
The general stepped off the lift and walked towards his quarters, long since repaired from his outrage after Geonosis. They were sparse, his only possessions mostly consisting of a couple of capes and his trophies. But there were two things he had kept from his past. His Outland rifle that had been passed down in his family since the Bitthævrian War and his old mask, carved from the skull of a mumuu and passed down from his father. The Outland rifle he had refurbished, a necessity after the explosion that nearly killed him, and while his mask was cracked in a few places and missing a tooth it was still in relatively good condition.
Kym could have the rifle, she’d always tried to get her hands on it every chance she could, even as a pup. Especially as a pup. It was her birthright as the eldest afterall, and she had become an even better shot than he had been at her age.
The mask could go to Zaebar, it was a more sentimental item and one that he knew his eldest son would appreciate. There was some guilt that he had nothing else to give the rest of his children or Liana, he just hoped that his presence would be enough. For the first time in years… He was coming home.
“ Sir,” His comms blared to life with the familiar, whiny tone of a B1 battle droid. “We’re approaching Kalee, but there don’t seem to be any spaceports big enough for us to land. ”
“Wait until I am back at the bridge, I will give coordinates to land the ships.” Grievous said, taking the rifle case and box with the mask with him as he left.
Stepping out of the lift and onto the bridge once more he was greeted with a sight he had not seen in years. Kalee. His home. He stared at it for a long moment, it hadn’t been that long since he had last been here, yet it felt like ages.
“General?” His head snapped back to the B1 bearing his sigil. “You weren’t responding about the coordinates.”
“Yes,” Grievous said, he hadn’t heard, even with the implants. He strode over to a console and tapped in the information, an area near his home village, well, it was a large town by the time he’d left. Kisharuk had expanded during his time as Khagan and even more so during his service to the Banking Clan. But there was space outside it that was relatively empty and flat. One of the few benefits to living on the cusp of the desert.
The Corporal looked at another screen. “Uh, General? That spot is occupied.” It told him, looking up at him in what could seemingly be confusion.
“What?” He tilted his head as he approached the console. “Are you sure?” He eyed the droid, perhaps it wasn’t as smart as he thought.
“Our scans are showing that the area already has a settlement.”
Alright, now he was confused. “Show me.” Grievous said.
“We’ll have visual soon, sir.” The Corporal said. And soon enough it was, his old village had expanded further in his absence, more of a city than anything. Grievous tilted his head again, taking in the sight of a place he had once known so well had changed while he was gone. Kisharuk, now even more different than it had been when he was a child. “Wow. It’s-It must have gotten bigger then.” The droid said.
“Then land further away, I do not want our landing to disrupt anything.” Grievous said, a growl in his voice. “There will be no damage done here. Am I understood? ”
“Yes sir.” The droid replied.
“Good, now see to it that the rest of these dumb droids do it right.” He said, watching the droid look from him to the other droids. If he didn’t know any better he would think the Corporal was nervous at that prospect.
“...I’ll try.” It replied, with what almost sounded like dread in its artificial voice. But in the end the threat was either unnecessary or it did as was intended. “We’ve landed General, what should we do with the freed slaves?” It asked.
“Keep them in for now, but you’ll be coming with me outside.” Grievous told the droid as he started back towards the lift. The droid followed him obediently, but it did tilt its head. “Do you know how to pilot a speeder?” He asked.
“Yes sir, do you… Need me to go to the settlement for something?” It asked.
“Yes. I want you to find the city leader. They may be a Chieftain, or perhaps even a Khan.” Grievous said as they traveled down several levels towards the hangar. “Tell them we mean no harm, and that General Grievous wants to speak to them about the return of Kaleesh slaves.”
“And if they don’t speak Basic?” The Corporal asked.
“Ask for the Sheelals.” Grievous said. “And even if you don’t they should likely send for one of them anyway.” He told the droid, finally sparing it a look. While it was possible that this droid would be destroyed by his people, it was a chance he was willing to take. This one wasn’t as dumb as the others, so it was least likely to bring harm to his people.
At the very least Tima could put it back together again. Probably even make it better.
“Yes sir. Shall I accompany them back to the ship?” It asked.
“Indeed. I shall be waiting for you.” He said. From there he saw the droid off on a speeder, and he stood and waited. He couldn’t quite recall who had been left in charge after he’d had to take up the role of a collections agent for the Banking Clan. Perhaps he would recognize them, or perhaps it would be someone completely new. His once humble village was a city that nearly rivaled Kaleela now.
For now… He waited. Stubbornly avoiding oogling the walls around Kisharuk. So much had changed since he had last been here. But he wanted to see something, someone, familiar before he took in the new. Another Kaleesh, be they someone known or not, would be a good first step. Some time passed, and he could finally see the droid on the speeder heading back towards him. But there was another followed close behind, his eyes narrowed as he watched their approach. The second was definitely a Kaleesh on a speeder bike, he could see the muumuu mask on their face. But as they got closer he noticed something.
His clan's sigil was painted on the man's mask. Grievous straightened up when he noticed it. The man was of a large stature, taller than he himself had been as a man, he would guess. He wore armor that had been made from the exoskeleton of the Huk, the tunic under the armor was a deep blue, and a large sword strapped to his back, but what really caught his attention… Was the red cape billowing behind him. It was well taken care of, but it was showing its age, the end frayed and battle torn. It was Hers. Ronderu’s. Which could only mean that the man coming to meet him was…
“Zaebar…” He murmured softly.