The Siblings Journey

The Deserter

Fugitive! Though the Republic has won many decisive battles against the Separatist army in the Outer Rim, the Jedi have failed to capture the elusive General Grievous. After specifically targeting members of the Jedi council, a trap was set. But following a fierce confrontation the droid general managed to escape to the surface of the planet Saleucami. Now the chase is on as General Kenobi and General Alex lead a squadron of clone troopers and closes in on the desperate target.

As the cruiser landed on the surface of Saleucami, everyone prepared for the search for Grevious. Alex and Kenobi stood looking out at the landscape of the planet around them, planning their search strategy. The landscape of Saleucami was fairly desert with tall palm trees scattered around the landscape and rolling hills.

"In theory, with this landscape the search should go well." Alex states looking around as the walkers began preparing for the search.

"If only things were ever that easy." Alex hummed in response to Kenobi. Behind them, Rex came up to the two generals. "Instead of scattering our troops looking for all the escape pods, we shall towards the wreckage of the landing transport first." With the order issued, the general and clones made their way to the transport. After hours of trekking across the Saleucami landscape, the group finally came across a lusher green part of the planet, and in the distance lied the land transport they were looking for.

"General Kenobi! Sir, the cruiser's returned to orbit." Removing the visors from his view, Kenobi looks down at Rex while Alex continues looking at the transport and the surrounding area. "Any sign of Grievous?"

"I believe we've found his ship." Alex's answers removing the visors as well. "It's on the horizon." Kenobi places his visors back on and finds the same thing, a destroyed ship on the horizon, most certainly Grevious's. The search party continues onward to the ship. "See if you can find any signs indicating how long the ships been here."

"Interesting strategy." Kenobi remarked as he and Rex looked at Alex. Alex merely shrugged his shoulders before answering.

"Blame Rose, wouldn't have ever thought of it if it weren't for her." The two understood what he meant. Exploring the destroyed the ship, slowly the search crew was able to find some signs.

"Thermal housing intakes are still warm. This couldn't have happened too long ago." Cody report to Kenobi. Rex then came along with Jesse to share their findings on the ship's conditions.

"The crew compartments almost entirely destroyed." Nodding his head Kenobi crafted a new plan.

"We'll split into teams. Rex, take Jesse, Hardcase, and Kix and search those wetlands. Cody, you, Crys and I will pick it up from here." The clones headed out into the wetlands to continue the search but were stopped before they got too far. "Rex, if you do get a visual on Grievous, contact us before you engage. Alex will be on standby in the case any of us find him." With that the groups headed out, Rex and his group into the wetlands, Kenobi and Alex to find the escape pods. Upon more searching, Kenobi and Alex came across an escape pod, though the battle droids surrounding were destroyed beyond repair. The group looked around for any surviving droid to take intel from.

"General, I found one." A clone called from by the escape pod. Upon investigation, the battle droid inside the pod was in good condition for intel extraction.

"Let's load the droid in the tank. We'll inspect it on the go." Kenobi ordered. Once inside the tank, it wasn't long before whatever intel the droid had was uncovered. "What do you have?" Kenobi asked as he and Alex approached Cody and another clone who had been working on the droid.

"We've broken the access codes and powered up the droid's guidance system." Cody answered. "According to his memory logs, he fired the emergency thrusters on the escape pod to avoid a mid-air collision." Kenobi thought for a second before asking.

"Collision with what?"

"Another escape pod." The other clone answered, and Cody continued.

"There was no time to correct for the steeper glide path which is why this droid's pod crashed"

"Can you pinpoint the landing zone for the other pod?" Alex asked as he looked over the destroyed droid. Nodding his head, Cody answered.

"I can put us within two to three klicks of it, sir." 

"Alert the men." Kenobi ordered the other clone as Cody got to work pinpointing the location of the other pod. As the group traveled, the day had faded into night. With the moon high in the sky, the group continued on their set path to the general location of the other pod, hoping to find Grevious. Kenobi, perched on top of one of the tanks, signaled for the group to stop at the sight of the pod. Sliding down, he stood next to Cody as he pointed out an escape pod in the distance. "There's our escape pod. Any sign of Grievous?" Both Kenobi and Cody pulled out their visors to survey the land for the General, as Alex exited the tank.

"What do we got?" Alex asked and the two answered.

"The pod looks deserted." Cody gave his answered and Kenobi followed it up.

"He must be heading to a second escape pod." Alex nodded his head at the two's analysis and Kenobi went to check in with the other group. "Captain Rex, come in, please." They waited for a moment before someone else responded.

"It's Jesse, sir. Rex was injured, sir." Jesse answered the call with unfortunate news.

"What's his condition?" Kenobi asked, piquing the interest of Alex.

"He'll be fine, but we had to find him shelter for the night."

"Grievous is on the move. We're headed to the west. Swing around and we can meet up at the final escape pod. We're going to need all the firepower we can muster." Kenobi ordered and Jesse responded back.

"Roger that, sir. We're speeding towards you." The conversation ended and Alex spoke up.

"Let's get moving, don't want Grievous beating us there." With that, they headed off. On the way to the last escape pod, Kenobi radioed into Jesse again.

"How are you doing, Jesse?"

"Closing in, sir. We have a visual."

"Very well. We'll meet you in the middle." Kenobi ended contact. Each group was already drawing closer to the target. The group was quiet, until suddenly, a rocket started flying towards the tank the jedi were standing on. Quickly jumping off and abandoning the tank, they ignited their respective lightsabers and charged into battle.

"Looks like he beat us here." Alex pointed out the obvious as they continued fighting the battle droids. Soon a ship began flying overhead of the battle. "Obi-wan!" Alex called out.

"Focus your fire on that ship!" Kenobi ordered the remaining tanks, and they began firing at the said ship.

"Sir, that ship's coming around for another landing attempt." Jesse radioed in the warning.

"Keep firing. Don't let that ship land." Kenobi ordered, however, the tanks weapons stopped firing, causing the generals to turn in confusion.

"The guns are overheated!" A clone reported the disappointing news.

"Always something." Alex sighed at the news and Kenobi radioed in.

"Alex, Cody, Jesse cover me." Alex didn't get a chance to respond as Kenobi advanced toward Grevious. Alex continued getting through the battle droids, as well as deflecting shots while Kenobi engaged Grevious. However, Grevious soon shot a grapple to the ship that had been trying to land and flew off with it. With the battle over, Alex approached a disappointed Kenobi, both were upset with losing Grevious, but Kenobi seemed more affected by it.

"Obi-wan, we'll find him again. I'm certain of it." Alex tried to be positive in this situation, but knew there wasn't much anyone could do about what happened.