An Unthinkable Alliance

Chapter 16

Nightmare Land's Border

Around the smoldering ruins of the holy Kaleesh city were high mountains covered by never ending snow. The city of Shurpak was established in that mesa for a reason. Grievous knew that in ancient times, the moutains that were surrounding the northen wall of the temple were guarding the Nightmare Lands. The City was once an outpost against the horrors from the other side. It was the only passage towards that damned place. The Jenuuwa Sea was cornering it and the only way inside it was the canyon which Shrupak guarded. With time, the old guardians became honored by the people and their leaders became the priests. But now it was destroyed. Grievous was standing on the edge of a plateau on the tallest mountain. He was staring at the mists that were hiding the creatures below him. He remembered that one time he ventured there but when he first stepped in, he was sudennly afraid. He couldn't go on and he had to return. Now thinking about it, Grievous was glad he didn't enter the Nightmare Lands. After what happened on Vjun at the start of the Clone Wars, he was strongly suspecting that a Dark Side Nexus was there. A Kaleesh warrior appeared behind him.
'My lord, we are seeing ships approaching the landing point.
'Very good, Karjal. It is a shame the High Priest didn't survive the bombardment. It seems I will have to deal with speeches after all.
'My lord, we are by your side forever! You are the God of War for a reason!
Grievous frowned. He wasn't an invulnerable dead god who came back to life to save his people... he sighed annoyed.
'Very well. Have you got my daughter to safety?
'Yes, she will be hidden from the attacks. I have my best men guarding her.
'No, it would be best if she remained alone. That way the Republic won't find her.
'Are you sure?
'She is my daughter. She can take care of a few predators until the war is finished.
'Of course, my lord.
'Let's go.
He departed from the edge and Karjal with a few Kaleesh warrior followed him. They climbed a ridge and reached the mountain's highest mesa. 10 landingcrafts were already on ground with troops deploying. Grievous looked at his army with dissapointment. He would barely manage to bring a few thousands back on the ground to fight. He lacked the most important advantage about the droid armies. Numbers. Without it, they were nothing more than cans to kick around. He blinked desperately. However, the sight of a 3 Tactical Commanders and 6 magnaguards made him easen his nervous stance.
'Sir, we have 4000 troops ready for your orders!
The magnaguards flanked Grievous without saying anything. Grievous pointed his sharp finger at the Tactical Droids.
'The people of this planet are our allies. You shall respect them.
'Yes, General!
'Follow the Kaleesh scouts in the Nightmare Lands and await my arrival. Don't engage the enemy, only if necessary.
'Roger roger!
With that , they left. Karjal approached Grievous.
'My lord, are we going into the Nightmare Lands?! Few Kaleesh have gone there in millenias.
'I know. But we don't have to fear a few ghosts.
After the other Kaleesh left, Grievous dragged Karjal closer to him and whispered:
'That is our only real advantage, my friend. We don't possess many troops, we have little Kaleesh to spare and the enemy is led by one of the most powerfull Jedi in the Order. The Nightmare Lands will inflict more damage on our enemies than you can imagine, and we shall be relatively safe.
'Why do you say that?
'My masters are Sith, beings that don't fear the dead and defeat the spirits of demons. And I have learned those traits. I don't fear anything down there.
'Of course , my lord. But I'm afraid we won't be there at the end of the battle.
'You shall be there. Man up, Karjal! You are my right hand for a reason!
His friend nodded and left encouraged. Grievous remained there and continued to oversee the droid armies marching.

Republic Forward Base

All around the base trees were cut and clones were working hard to prepare landing points for their gunships. In the main building, Obi-Wan was walking on the hallways thinking. He wondered many things about Shaak Ti now. How did she survive? Why was she so upset? He decided to question her and went outside. She was standing on a rock, legs crossed, looking at the falling trees. The breeze was strong and Obi-Wan had to shield his eyes until he reached the Togruta Master.
'Shaak Ti, are you well?
'How can I be well when we are stepping over our principles?she answered not looking at him.
'Look, I am not in charge of this operation. Mace Windu took the decisions.
They both remained silent for a while until Obi-Wan spoke again.
'How are you alive?
'What do you mean?
'It is a miracle that you showed up earlier. We haven't seen you for 2 weeks almost. Last time you have been dragged to a hidden door by the Hutt's henchemen.
'Well, I escaped the day the siege of Makeb began.
'Yes, the CIS made it happen. I guess Grievous captured you?
Obi-Wan waited for a positive answer but Shaak Ti surprised him:
'No! He saved me, actually! I would have been dead twice if he didn't show up.
Obi-Wan stopped curious.
'Well, these are interesting news! Our most hatefull enemy saved you.
'And he has been treating me like a special guest on his ship. He even let me keep my lightsaber! Obi-Wan... he is not evil... he just lost so much...
'That doesn't mean he must become a killer.
'I was telling myself the same thing but... if you had lived his life, without Jedi teachings in your mind, you would do the same thing. And now... now he really almost lost everything! All because you thought he was here to start a military operation!
'Wait... what do you mean he almost lost everything?
'He has a living daughter you know... one which he cares very much about...
'Who would have thought... and you know this because he told you that?the Jedi Master asked sarcastically.
'She was a slave on Makeb too! Can you imagine how Grievous must have felt when he saw his only living child alive after years of not knowing... and she is a fighter like him.
'Where is she?
'I don't know. Last time I saw her she was crying while watching her home burn.
Shaak Ti turned around to glare at the Jedi Master. Obi-Wan frowned and wanted to leave but he stopped after one step.
'Maybe she is the key to our victory...
'What?
'We must capture her to make Grievous surrender.
'Ugh!
Shaak Ti growled and pushed some leaves away from her.

Mountain's Plateau

The plateau that was once filled with droids was now left with 50 B1 soliders and Grievous. He remained there until all his army left. One squad remained and he let out an order for the landing crafts to leave.
A droid came to Grievous who looked at him annoyed.
'What is it?he asked tired.
'Sir, I must inform you that there are several life forms approaching from the sky!
Grievous looked up and saw 3 gunships making their way to the plateau.
'Arghh! Battle-positions!
The droids ran and took cover behind rocks and trees while Grievous remained defiant in the clear with his magnaguards close by. The gunships landed and several clone troopers jumped out and pointed their guns at him. Leading them was a Jedi Grievous only saw on Geonosis when the Clone Wars started. He glared at him when he realized that was the Jedi Order's most skilled duelist, Mace Windu. The black Jedi ignited his purple lightsaber and pointed it at Grievous.
'General Grievous! We meet at last!
'I guess you are Mace Windu?the cyborg asked with an uninterested tone. He coughed a little but remained in the same position.
'Indeed. I am here to bring you before the Senate for all the crimes you have wrought upon the citizens of the Republic and the Jedi Order!he shouted at him.
'Your gibberish doesn't interest me, idiot! However, I must admit I've never had a purple lightsaber before!
He laughed darkly which made Windu gritt his teeth.
'Attack!
The clones started to shoot Grievous who ignited two lightsaber and started deflecting the shots. His magnaguards charged at Mace Windu while the droids started to shoot the Republic soliders from their covers. Grievous was looking at Windu with much interest. He was practicing a Jedi fighting style thay few managed to use. The Juyo form was often utilized by the dark side users because it was concentrated on powerfull feelings. After one minute of seeing Mace's style, Grievous realised that the best solution for him to defeat Windu was full-out offensive attack. He split his arms and ignited another two lightsabers. The magnaguards retreated a few steps and the Jedi saw Grievous charing at him with all his lightsabers spinning. To Grievous surprise, Mace didn't run away or remained defensive but charged at him. That made their collision to be powerfull and push back both opponents. Grievous growled and swinged his swords at him but the black Jedi parried and counter-attacked so fast that the General had to resort to his computer brain to dodge it. Both of them traded a few hits until Mace Windu raised his hand so fast thay seemed like a blurr and Force -Pushed him away. Grievous was taken by surprise and took the blow, flying into a tree and crashing it. He shook his head a few seconds and looked at his enemy fighting his magnaguards. The droids were still shooting the clones but the enemy soliders used their brains and switched positions and used grenades. He had to retreat. Grievous sent a silent order over the hololink and both him and the magnaguards ran away while droids started shooting Windu desperately. The Jedi tried to stop the General but he had to retreat back to his clones. After a short battle, all the metallic soliders were lying dead on the ground. Mace took the holo-transmitter and contacted the base. The image of Obi-Wan answered.
'Well?
'He escaped. We'll have to fight with the droids after all.
'A shame... but I've got a solution.
The Jedi raised an eyebrow intrigued. Obi-Wan continued.
'We can force Grievous to surrender by capturing his daughter.
'Daughter?!
'Yes, highly unexpected. Return to base and we'll discuss further.
'Very well. Mace Windu out.