Nightmare's Land
A purple mist was raising over the tall dark trees of the forbidden land. The most fearless Kaleesh were already tremblimg in their boots , scared of whoever may attack them. In contrast to their emotions, Grievous and his droid army were silent and ignorant of their surroudings. Karjal approached his mastet who was riding a speeder bike at low speed.
'My lord?
'What is it, Karjal?
'This place gives me the creeps... he said that with feat in his eyes. We are going towards our doom!
'Shut up already! I want you to show me a demon that scares you right now!
The Kaleesh didn't know how to respond and Grievous continued.
'See? It is only your imagination. We are almost at the point where I want to build our bases.
'Any reason why in that place?
'Actually, yes! I have searched some data files and Sith informations and there is an ancient temple there.
That made Karjal's eyes widen in horror.
'You mean we are going towards a tomb of some kind?
'Yes! Hopefully there are creatures there who will help us.
The scout backed away and went back to his group frightened. One of his squadmates noticed it and asked:
'Why are you so scared?
'Our God of War is insane! We are going to our doom!
All of the Kaleesh looked curious at him and listened to what the General said...
Kalee
A few dozens of kilometers away, some squads of clone troopers , led by Obi-Wan were searching for footprints of a certain Kaleesh girl. Cody was reporting to the Jedi.
'Sir, there is no way that native could have ran away like that without proper transportation. She must be somewhere around the base or with General Grievous.
'No! Cody, Grievous isn't stupid. He has hidden his daughter. But where?
'We have dispatched several squadrons along the perimeter...
'Then she should be found by nightfall. Obi-Wan finished.
The clone commander nodded. A shot was sudennly heard and both of them raised their heads surprised. Cody pointed his blaster in the direction the bolt came from. The clones formed a formation and took cover. Obi-Wan just put his hand on his beard intrigued. He raided his hand peacefully and went ahead of his soliders.
'Whoever is there, I come in peace!he shouted towards the bushes.
Some hidden movement was heard and Obi-Wan raised his lightsaber and deflected a blaster bolt coming for his head. The Jedi used the Force to sense who was hiding and she felt the girl. He pushed with great force some bushes away and , in addition, Qalisha into a tree. She fell down and dropped her gun. The clones were quick to form a circle around her, blasters pointed at her. Obi-Wan pulled her rifle away and the girl glared at him.
'Who are you, child?
'I am Qalisha jei Sheelal!she said pridefully.
'Interesting. Would you mind coming with me?
'I would rather die than surrendering to a Jedi!she said that while gritting her teeth.
She suddenly jumped over and tried to strangle Obi-Wan but Cody shot her with an electric bolt that made her lose her conscience. The Jedi used his hand to clean his shoulder and said:
'Good job, Commander! Let's go back to base now!
The clone soliders picked Qalisha up and went to a landed gunship a few hundred meters away. They entered it quickly and flew back to the their Forward Base. Obi-Wan observed that many other ships have landed and thousands of clone troops were deployed on the ground. If it weren't for General Grievous tactical genious, Kenobi knew they would have won easily with those numbers. However, he had to have an ace in his hand. Mace Windu appeared at the door to greet him. He saw the unconsciois body of Qalisha and frowned disgusted.
'Is this that spawn of evil's daughter?
'Yes, she was very reckless to attack us.
'Well, she has more courage than Grievous, I give her that. That coward ran into the what the Kaleesh call Nightmare's Land. It is a veru dangerous place with powerfull creatures. We can't send scouts so we'll have to move our entire army the same time.
'Well... why is it called like that?
'I don't known, but I sense much darkness coming from there. I will be surprised if we won't have to deal with the dark side here.
'Do you think Dooku is here? Or his unknown master?
'Maybe. We need to find out. But I am sure Grievous will lead us to the bottom of this.
They both remained silent for a while until the bearded Jedi asked:
'Any news from space?
'Yes, the Invisible Hand is still up there fighting tooth and nail for his master. Grievous has made sure that he has the best ship in the entire CIS! It's shields and armory are sustaining all we've got to throw at them.
'Well, then , the quicker we capture the General , the faster that ship will be destroyed, let's not waste any more time.
'Agreed.
Dark Temple
The daunting form of the General was standing at the entrance of the temple that centered the Nightmare Lands. He watched as his droid armies were preparing surrounding with hidden mine bombs and built barricades. Grievous watched the rock door before him with his magnaguards and the Kaleesh behind.
'My lord? Karjal asked a little scared.
The cyborg could feel a pressence inside, in a same fashion he felt on Vjun. He tilted his head at his second-in-command.
'Go and prepare our base. I will enter the temple with my magnaguards.
Not waiting for a second cue to leave the temple, Karjal bowed and almost ran away with his comrades. Grievous returned his attention to the door and pushed with his hands the heavy doors, at first not doing nothing, but when he extended himself, he heard a sound and both of them opened. The cyborg entered the dark hallway and admired the architecture of the walls. Suddenly, he heard a sound after he stepped on a tile and the ceiling dropped off, revealing a green substance that fell on the cyborg. Grievous tried to shield himself , but the liquid covered him and the magnaguards. The General's cloak was left burned at the sides and holes appeared in it while his armor cracked as the substance was making his effect. Grievous growled and ignored the trap. He started walking towards the entrance to a great room, followed by his silent guard. His brain was a little aching but he dismissed the pain as uninmportant. In the middle of the hall he entered, there was a statue that showed a cloaked man with armor besides him, poiting a staff at the sky. Grievous recognized the Sith armor immeadetly.
'This is a shrine of some sorts...he said loudly to himself.
That moment, the statue's eyes flickered and a green smoke poured out of the stone eyeballs. Grievous noticed that but didn't show any sign of fear. It was in that moment that the ghost made it's appearance by exiting the stone statue and flying above the room, looking with interest at Grievous. Aftet a quick inspection, he approached the cyborg and said in a dark cold tone:
'Intruder! How dare you intrerrupt my slumber?
'I dare whatever I wish to!the General said threatening.
'You fool! You do realise that the land in which you positioned your army is full of my spawns. They may lurk in the dark now but I can order them to attack.
'I wouldn't be so sure your beasts can defeat me.
'Perhaps. Surviving that trial of flesh at the entrance showed that you are strong. But are you cunning?
'I am here with a proposition.
'You are demanding something from me , mortal , but cover it by saying it is a "proposition"?the ghost said laughing.
'Yes. There are Jedi coming this way.
The moment he said it, the ghost frowned and scowled at him.
'Jedi? They will desecrate my shrine!
'They might, if they survive.
'What do you mean?
'I can kill Jedi but their army outnumbers mine. You sent the beastd after the clone army and I will deal with them!
The ghost let out a sincere giggle which made Grievous back away confused.
'You arrogant mortal! You think I need your help? I will deal with the Jedi myself, but first, I must shut your puny mouth.
He finished the sentence by returning to the statue and dissapeared into it. Grievous waited a few moments, then the shrine suddenly moved and charged at the cyborg. He saw it coming and raised his arms defensively , blocking the hit. He split his arms and took two lightsabers while the others were busy with deflecting blows from the statue. Then he slashed his weapons at it and cut his hands. The ghost backed away impressed and looked into the General's eyes. Grievous felt hipnotized and his clarity darknened, leaving him into total darkness. His thoughts were heard loudly:
'Not this again...
His vision returned but he was in a white space with nothing around him.
Before him, the full-fleshed form of the ghost appeared.
'Is this your nightmare? Really? You don't dream or what?
Grievous ignited another two lightsabers.
'No no... you see, you can't defeat me here. I just too control of your body.
You are a prisoner of your own mind!
To the ghosts surprised, Grievous didn't jump scared or looked helpless, he didn't react at all.
'Aren't you afraid?
'I have beat your kind before. Some mind tricks don't scare me.
'You miserable... but the ghost regained his calm imediately. I will make you live your nightmares!
He said that with a false serenity and snapped his fingers. Everything went white for a few seconds. Then, Grievous found himself on a beach and saw some Yam'rii shooting at him. He dodged the hits and saw that he himself had a rifle and realised something new:he was fully organic. He saw one of the bugs charging idioticly at him and raised his slughthtower rifle and shot, killing his enemy in an instant. He continued to kill the Huk until a few were left on the beach. However, at hundreds of meters away, someone familiar was fighting the swarm of bugs. Grievous gasped for air as he saw... Ronderu. He ran to her side desperately but the swarm was overwhelming her and he heard her screan of agony before he reached the Huks. She was seemingly devourd by the endless numbers of Yam'rii. Grievous fell on the hot sand and put his hands on his head confused and panicked.
'Ronderu... no... no...
He let out a scream and the Huks turned their attention to him. He was still laying on the ground while he raided his head and saw in the woods before the beach a child watching him behind the cover of some bushes. He saw Qalisha and his memories of the present returned. Grievous stood up and threw his rifle away.
'This is just an illusion.
He crossed his hands at his chest and waited for his enemies to attack him. A large angry scream was heard and again, a white flash went over the General's eyes.
Now , he was standing in the cockpit of a ship, watching some fellow Kaleesh pilot it. He shook his head confused and inspected the surroundings. All around him were battle-hardened Kaleesh warrior who were wearing a white cloak with two mumuu marking on the shoulder. His two golden eyes widened as he remembered the Ivozhsra, his Elite Guard. All his most precious warriors. He smiled behind his bonemask happy that he was reliving these moments again. A beeping sound came from the pilot who said:
'Qymaen, there is a large heat coming from...
Grievous didn't heard eveything as an explosion was heard that shook the ship and made it fall in the air down to the ground. The General panicked as the emergency hatches weren't working at they were falling into the Jenuwaa Sea. His comrades were as desperate as him and then a second explosion was heard, one which made Grievous fly out of his ship, the Martyr. His body was burning and he was badly injured. He remembered the moment as he saw his ship explode with all his Elite Guard now dead, then he entered the water. He let a growl.
'No! This are just illusions!
He refused to try and swim, allowing the sea to swallow him into the depths of it. Again, a large angry scream was heard and Grievous was thrown into a white hole. He blinked and saw a green water, blurring his vision then a familiar figure behind a glass. He tried to move his body but he couldn't.
'You can't do it, Qymaen. You have no limbs left.
The tall man behind the glass said. Grievous tried saying something but he realised he wasn't having a mouth anymore. However, his thoughts were projected into a metallic voice.
'Where am I? Who are you?
'Oh, you know me. I am San Hill, the Intergalactic Banking Clan's Chairman. I have saved you from an attempted murder.
The General couldn't speak but his thoughts were again said by the voice
'Who tried to assasinate me?
'I believe that the Jedi, I'm afraid... you are lucky we were in the area to help you.
'You should have let me die. There is no honor living like this!
Grievous remembered where he was. He was in a bacta tank, with nothing more than his chest and head, connected to many tubs. He just survived the crash.
'I can help you take vengeance upon the Jedi! I am sure you wish it as they have brought upon your planet a great debt.
'How am I supposed to kill the Jedi?
'You shall be given a new, powerfull body! Your organs will be planted in it. You see, there is a great war coming, one which will see you as a General.
'And if I refuse?
'You can die then, but know this, you shall be given a chance to eliminate the ones who wanted you murdered and I will personally pay for your planet's debt.
Grievous remained silent. He remembered he thought that the Gods were giving him a second chance and he accepted. Back then, the concept of the Clone Wars was only in the heads of the Chairman and his Sith Masters. He knew that this was only an illusion and said:
'I refuse! I have already chosen that path! You shall not break me!
A third scream was heard as Grievous expected and he was sudennly transported in a dark hall. Before him was the ghost in flesh.
'This is impossible!he shouted angrily.
'You have failed.the General simply stated.
'No no... I ... the nightmares won't conquer you... I am beaten. But this is a history of how you became what you are today. General Grievous wasn't born the day you waked up in your new body. You have become what you are from the moment your lover died... be wary though, dark times await you and your enemies!
Before the General could say anything, he was pushed backwards and he opened his eyes. Karjal was looking at him worried. The magnaguards were surrounding him protectively.
'What happened?
'My lord, you passed out. And there is a massive numbers of clones approaching us.
Grievous ignited his lightsabers and stood up. Karjal looked at him surprised.
'Gather all of our forces and start the defense! THIS WILL BE ... OUR LAST STAND! He shouted looking at the outside, seeing the enemy army kilometerd away coming.