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| - From the bridge of the Invisible Hand Grievous could see that little by little their starfighters were dwindling under the fire of the clone ARC-170s. When the vulture droids had gone the clone fighters retreated leaving the Hand under the constant fire of the Republic’s Integrity. The Indomitable, though nothing more than a floating hulk, kept at their rear blocking any chance of escape. Grievous growled, startling the droid and organic crew alike. “Concentrate all fire on the Indomitable,” he said to the gunner officer. “All batteries at maximum. Blast the hulk out of space, we’ll make a jump through the wreckage.” “But…the forward towers are overloading, sir,” said the stammering Neimoidian. “They’ll be at critical failure in less than a minute!” “Burn them out!” Grievous roared. “But sir, once they’re gone—” The gunner’s voice was lost in a shriek as Grievous snapped his neck in two. He then yanked the officer out of the chair and glared at the Neimoidian’s subordinate. “Congratulations on your promotion,” the droid general barked. “Take your post.” “Y-y-yes sir,” stammered the Neimoidian, unbuckling his restraints with shaking hands and took the seat as ordered. “Do you understand your orders?” “Y-y-y—” “Do you have any objections?” “N-n-n—” “Very well then.” Grievous’s face calmed somewhat, his tone became less harsh. “Carry on.” Padmé was never to know this, but the choke collar around Dooku’s neck only had a mild effect on him. If he wanted he could have removed the collar and escaped then and there, but that would have been against Sidious’ plan. For the second part of his orders, orders he had no choice but to accept, involved being captured and taken into custody by the Jedi. He may have failed on the first two counts, and he was sure to incur the wrath of his Master Sidious for doing so, but Sidious was extremely adaptable in his manipulations. He had to be, the Sith had had to evolve in such a way as the ensure their very survival. But at the moment they were waiting near the elevator, Anakin was continually hailing R2-D2 to activate it but the little droid could not or chose not to respond. The ship was really rolling now beneath them, it was quite some effort to keep on one’s feet. Finally in desperation Anakin wrenched the doors open to the elevator shaft just as the deck tilted to make the wall. “Come on!” Anakin called to Padmé, he was already in the elevator shaft with the Chancellor behind him. Padmé quickly tied a cable to Dooku’s cuff and attached it to her belt and followed. For a while it wasn’t that hard going, the side of the elevator shaft made an adequate floor if but a rather jumpy one. What is Artoo doing? Anakin thought fiercely. But Artoo was having his own problems. Despite the absence of Obi-Wan’s loud voice, the little droid had again attracted the attention of several battledroids. He scurried behind a console, yet skidded away from it as the ship rolled underneath him. Artoo squealed as he headed towards the ray shields at the rear-end of the hanger. The battledroids followed him, firing all the way and fell into the ray shield as the ship tilted back. Artoo had no time to see this, he fell into a pile of droid parts. The Invisible Hand was now in a definite dive, tilting dangerously close to the surface of Coruscant. General Grievous, holding firmly onto a bulk head with two of his free hands screamed at the crew to do something. “Fire the emergency booster engines!” he roared, vowing to rip the throat out of anyone who told him they didn’t work. Fortunately they did, and the ship began to level out. Not so fortunate for Anakin, the elevator shaft once again aligned vertically again. He was just able to grab onto some cables with his free hand to break his fall and holding out his right leg for Palpatine to hold onto. Padmé fell past him, but she managed to grab onto something with Dooku dangling below her like a peculiar spider. It was at this precarious moment that Obi-Wan decided to wake up. “What happened?” he asked, grabbing onto Anakin’s shoulders. “What did I miss?” “A whole lot,” Anakin replied, but there was no time to explain. Battered or not, Artoo still remembered what Anakin had told him. The little droid, once seeing that there was nothing about, trundled diligently to a terminal and activated the elevator. Above Anakin’s head he heard a low rumble, it was getting louder. “What’s that?” Obi-Wan asked. “I think it’s the elevator,” Anakin told him. “I told Artoo to activate it.” “Anakin!” “Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time,” Anakin said with a shrug. With his other hand he got out his comlink. “Artoo, shut down the elevator!” It was getting nearer, they could almost see it now. “Artoo?” “Too late, jump!” Obi-Wan yelled in his ear and Anakin let go. Below him Anakin could see Padmé and Dooku falling, faster and faster down the shaft. In desperation, Anakin screamed into the comlink. “Artoo! Open the doors! All floors!” This time Artoo was much more prompt in following orders, the doors clanked open and Padmé managed to direct her fall through one. Anakin followed her landing on the metal deck beside her and Dooku. In the few seconds of confusion that followed Obi-Wan was able to assess the situation. The fact that they had Dooku a prisoner could prove a help rather than a hindrance. Details could wait though, and then they could all have a good laugh. “Pardon, Master Kenobi,” said a much dishevelled Palpatine, “but are all your rescues so… entertaining?” Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at each other. “Actually,” Obi-Wan said, recalling Geonosis, “now that you mention it: yes, they are.” The Hand had stopped rolling but the laserfire from the Republic capital ships was still continuing. Grievous paced silently, all that remained was for the Indomitable to get out of their flank and they could make the jump. “Sir?” The timid voice of the comm officer interrupted the droid general’s pacing. “We are being hailed by the Integrity. They propose a ceasefire, sir.” The Neimoidian officer waited, Grievous would just as likely go into a rage as coldly accepting what was happening. Fortunately this time, the latter occurred. “Acknowledge their transmission,” Grievous grunted. “Stand by to ceasefire.” “Standing by, sir,” said the shaking gunnery officer. “Cease fire.” Grievous ordered, this was in no generosity on his part but to give their weapons time to cool. The ceasefire would be temporary at best. “There’s another transmission from the Integrity,” the comm officer said. “Patch it through.” The ghostly image of a young human male in the grey uniform of the Republic Navy appeared. “General Grievous,” said the young man. “I am Lieutenant-Commander Lorth Needa of the RSS Integrity.” Grievous stood there, unperturbed by this. At the transmitting end there was remarkable difference, but instead of the bravado that Grievous carried in Needa’s eyes was the cool confidence of triumph. He knew he had Grievous beaten, this call was really a test. A test to see if any degree of mercy or honour—if little there be—resided behind that durasteel mask. “At my request, my superiors have consented to offer you the chance to surrender your ship,” Needa continued. “Surrender?” Grievous barked, staring down the young commander. “Preposterous.” “Please give this offer greater consideration, General, as it will not be repeated,” Needa insisted patiently. “You may wish to take into account the lives of your crew.” “Why should I?” asked Grievous incredulously. If Needa was surprised he did not show it in his face. “Is this your reply, sir?” inquired the young officer. “Not at all.” Grievous drew himself up to his full height, this was intended to make him look intimidating and imposing though Needa thought it did neither. “I have a counteroffer,” the droid general said. “Maintain your ceasefire, move that hulk Indomitable out of my way and withdraw to a minimum range of fifty kilometres until this ship achieves hyperspace jump.” If this offer had been backed up by firepower it would have warranted consideration, but since the Invisible Hand was the only Separatist ship remaining in orbit Needa didn’t hesitate. “If I may use your word, sir: preposterous,” he said, not daring to venture a smile. “Tell those superiors of yours that if my demands are not met within ten minutes I will personally disembowel Supreme Chancellor Palpatine,” growled Grievous. “Is that understood?” “Ah, the Chancellor is aboard your ship then?” Needa need not have asked, he knew that Jedi had managed to get inside the Invisible Hand though he knew not what they had done. “He is,” answered Grievous. “Your pathetic Jedi have failed. They are dead and Palpatine is in my hands.” “So you will of course allow me to speak with him?” Needa inquired politely. “I need to reassure my superiors that you are not—well, to put it charitably—bluffing?” “I would not lower myself to lie to the likes of you,” Grievous snarled, he gestured to someone on board the ship. “Patch in Count Dooku.” The comm officer blanched when Dooku failed to answer his comlink. He had seen what had happened to the gunnery officer. “Uh…he’s not responding, sir,” the Neimoidian said. “Just show the Chancellor then,” Grievous ordered. “Bring up my quarters.” “Um…sir?” ”What are you waiting for, you fool? Bring it up!” “Sir, perhaps you should have a look first?” Cursing all Neimoidians as idiots, Grievous examined the security screen. There in his quarters he saw the wreckage of his chair as well as other evidence of a scuffle but no Dooku and most importantly no Chancellor. Could those Jedi have survived? Could they have the Chancellor and Count Dooku? “The Chancellor sends his apologies,” Grievous told Needa. “He is currently indisposed.” “Ah, I see,” Needa replied icily. Grievous did not like the looks of this. “I assure you—” “I do not require your assurance, General,” Needa replied confidently. “You have the same amount of time that you offered us. Ten minutes from now I will have your surrender or your confirmation that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is alive, unharmed and present or the Invisible Hand will be destroyed.” “Wait,” implored Grievous. “You can’t possibly—” “Ten minutes, General,” Needa repeated and the communication ended. For a moment Grievous was still, examining the space where Needa’s hologram had been. Then he exploded, charging forward and ripping out the throat of the nearest Neimoidian. “Dooku is gone, the Jedi are loose,” he snarled, throwing the Neimoidian’s body at the security console. “Find them!” “How long till we find the escape pods?” Padmé asked Anakin. “We need to find the parts of the ships meant for live crew,” Anakin told her. “This section’s mostly for droids.” “In more ways than one,” Obi-Wan noted dryly. “We should try for the hangars, see if there’s something that’s still flyable.” They turned several corners to finally reach a hangar, though not the one where Anakin had left Artoo. He and Obi-Wan quickly surveyed the ships still there, it didn’t look promising. “None of these will get us anywhere,” Obi-Wan concluded. “I agree,” Anakin said. “So now what do we do?” Obi-Wan asked, he was still at loss for an idea of how to get four people—no five—on to a ship and down to the surface. “How should I know?” Anakin demanded. “Let’s try further on,” Padmé suggested quickly, wondering if she hadn't intervened if Obi-Wan and Anakin would have continued arguing. “Sir, sir!” One of the Neimodians blundered up to him. “We’ve found the Jedi. They’re in hallway 328.” If it had been possible, Grievous would have smiled. But since he could not he merely gave the order less gruff than he would have normally done. “Activate ray shields!” So as it happened, Anakin was leading them down the corridor when the five became enclosed in a ray shield trap no more than a metre wide either way. They were completely boxed in. “Ray shields,” Anakin said with a grimace. “Wait a minute, how did this happen?” Obi-Wan looked at Anakin. “We’re smarter than this!” “Apparently not,” Anakin replied with a smile at Padmé. “It’s the oldest trick there is and we walked right into it. Well,” he shrugged. “I was distracted.” “Oh, so this is suddenly my fault is it?” Obi-Wan demanded. “Hey, you’re the Master, I’m just the hero,” Anakin said, glancing around their prison. “Perhaps we should negotiate for our release,” Palpatine suggested. “With what?” Obi-Wan asked. “Grievous would sooner throw us all out the nearest airlock.” “Well maybe not all of us,” Padmé added quietly, nodding to their captive. For the first time they acknowledged that they had Count Dooku with them. “And if that doesn’t work?” Obi-Wan asked. “I agree with Padmé,” Anakin said loyally. “And if not that: patience.” “Patience?” Obi-Wan snorted. “That is your plan?” “Well Artoo will be along any minute to deactivate the ray shields,” Anakin pointed out. And true to form, the little droid did arrive. Skidding across the deck at an alarming rate and crashing into the wall. “See?” Anakin smiled triumphantly. “No problem.” Behind them the door opened and several magna guards emerged with droidekas following. They aimed their weapons at the Jedi. “Perhaps we should try Plan B,” Obi-Wan murmured, nudging Padmé slightly. “Throw down your weapons, all of you!” she shouted, bringing out her lightsaber and shoving Dooku to where the droids could see them. There was no room to ignite the blade but she didn’t need to, the droids understood her meaning. Yet it took a word from Dooku to spur them into action. “Do what she says.” The droids compiled, looking at Dooku for further orders. “Now deactivate the shield,” Padmé ordered, Dooku repeated the order and when this was done they were able to get out. Anakin handed Palpatine a discarded blaster pistol while Padmé negotiated their way to the bridge using Dooku as their bargaining chip. “What is she doing?” Grievous asked no one in particular. Before his eyes her had seen one of the Jedi, the female Jedi use the captured Dooku to make the droids, his droids, obey her! This could not be tolerated. He turned to the security officer. “Order all combat droids to terminate their search algorithms and converge on the bridge,” Grievous ordered, then reconsidered. “Wait, no battledroids. Super battledroids and droidekas only. They will take instructions only from me.” “Yessir.”
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