An Unthinkable Alliance

Chapter 11

The Invisble Hand

The bridge of the dreaded flagship was filled by the same crew Grievous knew. Some neimoidians, Captain Dofine and droids. He was starting to get annoyed by their everlasting pressence and idiotic questions. One of the spoke again and Grievous was ready to shatter his head when he heard his message .
'Sir, Count Dooku is contacting us.
That made Grievous stop and just press the holocom button. The figure of the Count appeared on the central screen.
'General, I see you have decided to kill the Hutt after all. And against my orders.
Grievous growled angrily.
'The Hutt had to die and I made it certain his uprising Empire has been eradicated. I see no problem here.
'The problem was that Lord Sidious didn't want you involved in the campaign anymore! However, what's done it's done. Have you found the Jedi?
'What?
'You have told me that a Council Member has been captured by the Hutt. I expected you to tell me you killed him in the battle on Makeb.
'She is my prisoner. The Council Member is Shaak Ti.
'Interesting choice, keeping her as a prisoner. What do you intend to do with her?
Grievous remained silent. He didn't really had a plan with Shaak Ti other than thanking her for Qalisha's survival.
'Well?
The General remembered the Seleucami incident and said quickly.
'I will try to lure other Jedi and then kill them at the same time.
'Last time you employed this strategy, you almost got captured. Kill her and return to Separatist space. The war has started again between us and the Republic!
Grievous scowled and clenched his fists. He said in the end:
'It never actually ended.
With that he closed the channel. Captain Dofine approached Grievous intrigued:
'Sir, you seemed rather angry by the Count's decision to kill the Jedi...
'Shut up, Dofine!
'I wanted to say that the "prisoners" have waked up.
'Escort them to my quarters! The bridge is too... insecure.
The last sentence was said in a whisper and the Captain didn't hear it.
'As you wish!
With that, Grievous strode out of the Bridge, his white cape floating behind him...

The Invisible's Hand Spire

The flagship of the cyborg was a Providence Class Destroyer. Besides the advanced arsenal it possesed, the cruiser had a tower at it's end that was designed for organic living. The two girls sat at a large table located in the main room. The quarter had large windows as walls from where Qalisha and Shaak Ti were getting beatifull views of space and planets. At last, in the room entered Grievous with two magnaguards. The bodyguards walked faster than their master and surrounded Shaak Ti. They didn't activate their staffs though. Grievous just remained silent and sat on the chair that was located on the opposite side of the girls. Shaak Ti raised her eyebrows when she sensed some sadness and uncertainity in the cyborg's mind.
'Thank you, General, for saving us from that Hutt's clutches!she said, distrubting the silence.
Grievous just nodded and stared at Qalisha. She felt intimidated by his golden eyes and tried to bury herself in the chair. Grievous observed this and sighed.
'You don't need to be afraid, Qalisha... in case you haven't figured it out already, I am also a Kaleesh.
'You barely look like one anymore. Without those eyes, you wouldn't be much different from a lifeless droid.
Normally, being called a droid would make Grievous want to outright strangle the person, but in this case, he just sighed again.
'Maybe you will recognize who I was by telling you my name.
'General Grievous? Hardly a Kaleesh name.
'Is isn't actually my name. I am Qymaen jel Sheelal.
Qalisha's eyes went wide with surprise.
'You are...
Shaak Ti looked very interested in their conversation. It seemed her ideas about the General were true.
'She is your daughter, isn't she?
Qalisha was still shocked.
'But... they told me you died! That the Jedi killed you...
'I almost died. But I survived by becoming... this.
He looked at his body with disgust.
'Still, my memories and feelings hadn't changed. I know you are my last born child. I am so happy to see you with me now... and gratefull to you, Jed... Shaak Ti.
'The feeling is mutual, Grievous. You have already saved me twice from slavery. Never thought you would be the type of a knight in shining armor saving a damsell in distress.
Grievous couldn't help but laugh for a little bit. But he soon stopped and sighed yet another time. He let out his hand and the magnaguards departed from Shaak Ti. She eyed them curios.
'Why were they so close to me?
'I ... am afraid I must kill you...
He revealed her lightsaber and threw it at her. She caught it and stared at Grievous.
'What, no!
Everyone stood up. Shaak Ti realized that Grievous had orders and that was their fate, so she picked her lightsaber and ignited it. Grievous did the same with two of his. He was ready to jump and swing a powerfull blow at her when Qalisha appeared between them.
'Stop! Father, what are you doing?!
'Please, Qalisha, out of my way...
'No! Why do you want to kill her? I won't allow it!
Shaak Ti intrerupted her:
'Please Qalisha, Grievous is unfortunately right...
'No, after all you two did, just to kill each other! Over my dead body!
She remained there firmly. Shaak Ti would have ended the fight , after all, she wasn't desiring the General's death. But it wasn't her call of make. Grievous stopped and just stared at Qalisha. However, his eyes told her that his thoughts where wandering somewhere else and his mind wasn't present with them.
'Grievous... father? Please, spare her! Have you lost your sense of honor?
He coughed awakwdly:
'Well, I did give her a weapon to defend herself...
'That's not what I meant!
Grievous reached an impasse. His computer from his brain was telling him to finish the two without a second thought, but his organic one was in full disagrement. It was the movement of the magnaguards that stopped his inner fighting. They lunged at Shaak Ti and tried to electrocute her. Fortunately, she dodged the attack and took a defensive stance. Qaliha jumped at the Togruta's side and revealed a blaster. She started shooting at the droids. However, the magnaguards weren't easy to hit. They were cleverly evading her shots and charged at the two. One of the magnaguarda engaged Shaak Ti in a duel while the other was trying to hit Qalisha. To the droid's surprise, she was quite agile and knew how to react to his attacks. Grievous was pondering in his mind what to do. He was surprised to see them attack the girls even if he didn't ordered so. A scream caught his attention and he looked worried at the Kaleesh girl. She had been eventually hit and fell down weaponless. The magnaguard prepared to swing his staff when Grievous punched him. The droid flew all across the room and hit a window.
'You two, stop already! he said threatening.
However, the two droids didn't listen. The one that was knocked by Grievous was ready to continue his attack while the other kept hitting Shaak Ti's lightsaber.
'This is impossible... they should listen to me...
The cyborg then growled when he understood those weren't "his" magnaguards. Not his loyal ones. He glared at the one that was charging at Qalisha and jumped on his body. His metal talons dug deep in the durasteel and crushed it. Then Grievous impaled the droid in the head. The other one looked shocked that their ally killed him but in that moment, Shaak Ti cut him apart. Grievous closed his weapons and put them back at his waist. He turned around and helped Qalisha stand up.
'Why did they attack us?
'Because they had orders. Unlike me, they can't disobey.
Shaak Ti approached the two , tired from the fighting.
'So, Dooku ordered you to kill us?
'Indeed.
'I understand your reason for defending your daughter but me? I am a Jedi after all.
'Let's just say that you have earned my gratitude...
'Your gratitude? Really? You look at her awfully suspicious, father.
Grievous glanced confused at Qalisha. His eyes were widened a little bit. Shaak Ti couldn't resist smiling at the General's confusion.
'Whatever, I must take you back to Kalee.
'Great idea. I miss the old jungle and village. They're the only happy memories I have.
'What do you mean?
'Well, half my life was spent as a slave...
Grievous scowled at her.
'You are no longer a slave! Get rid of that part of your life from your mind! Now Kalee has almost returned to the times when I was a kid so you are going to live a normal life again.
'What? Won't you come too?
'I am afraid I can't.
'But everyone would he so happy to see that you have returned! You were our protector! Without you, our entire planet would have been enslaved!
Shaak Ti rised an eyebrow. She knew Grievous led the Kaleesh in the war, but that seemed not to be the only reason.
'You are too young to quite understand, youngling.
'I am not a youngling! I am mature.
'Not to me. Go back to the Med Bay. You may have been hurt.
Qalisha did the same growl as Grievous but she nodded and left the room. A droid outside bowed before her and started leading her back to the MedBay.
Now alone in the room with Shaak Ti, Grievous returned his attention to her.
'What should I do with you...
'You could release me...
'Well, if you wish so, it's the least I could do for your help.
'But I want to see Kalee. You got me intrigued General. I hope you won't mind my pressence.
Grievous stared confused at Shaak Ti.
'I am surprised you want to stay... but Dofine... he reports to Dooku directly...I can't let you.
The Togruta came closer to Grievous with pleading eyes.
'Please, I want to see Kalee and from your perspective...
The cyborg seemed to think about it, but he then said in a stern voice.
'Fine, but when we leave Kalee , you go back to your puny friends!
'Alright...
Grievous departed from her, walking to the exit. He remembered that Shaak Ti probably didn't eat many things since her enslavement so he stopped.
'I guess you are hungry... I will put some droids to serve you food at the table later.
'Thank you , General. Do you mind joining me?
Grievous laughed and turned around to look at the Jedi.
'Are you stupid? I don't eat!
'I just wanted a someone to talk to.
'If you put it that way, I will consider it...
He left the room quickly while Shaak Ti stared at his cloak."Maybe I can convince him to listen to Qalisha and... leave the CIS...that would be great...
She smiled thinking at the idea...