Shadows of the Past

Chapter 15

Valc System

2 Hammer Head cruisers exited Hyperspace, entering the Valc System. This backwater world known as Valc along with it's moons was nowehere of any importance to the Empire or Grievous. He was standing on the Bridge of one of the ships, hands clasped behind his back. On this mission he had decided to leave a few individuals off such as Commander Sato to lead the rest of the fleet, Ashoka to fulfill her mission and Kanan so that he won't annoy him anymore along with Rex and Zeb and the rest of the Ghost crew. Meanwhile, the other Hammer Head ship was commanded by Shaak Ti.
'Officer, hail the inhabitans of the planet!the cyborg commanded rasply.
The rebel nodded and opened the frequency, sending a greeting message to the main terminal of communications on the seventh moon of Valc. After a few seconds of waiting, a man answered:
'Who is this?
'Who is this?Grievous asked back.
'Hey, stranger, you better turn away with your two nice looking ships or you're going to get scrapped!
'Is that so? I presume you must be the Black Sun boss.
'Yeah, that's me! Want a second warning to back off the system?
Grievous was starting to get rather impatient.
'I have heard that you are pillaging the villages of the moon.
'So what? Are you here to stop us?
'As a matter of fact, I am.
An amused laugh was the reply of the Black Sun gangboss.
'You're funny, you know? You got a death wish or something?
'That's enough! Prepare to be eradicated, Pirate Scum!
Grievous closed the link angry and pointed to four small ships appearing fron the other side of the moon:
'Destroy them!
Shaak Ti looked how the General's warship engaged the other smaller ones in a fight. She sighed and ordered her subordinates to do the same thing. While Shaak Ti was nowhere on the level the Kaleesh's tactical mind was, she knew that the pirates would be forced to retreat. After all, their fleet was mostly made for harrasment of small comunities rather than fighting armored battleships such as the two Alderaanian ones. And it was true, the first ship of the pirates was hit by one of the many cannons aboard the Rebel cruiser, making it split apart in an explosion. One of the ships pointed their turbolasers towards Shaak Ti's bridge, and aggresively released a barrage of bolts. The impact made the room quiver and made the Jedi fall on her back hard. The ship had been damaged, making it unable to respond to the commands issued by the Command Centre...

'Cowards...
The General muttered to himself. The remaining two ships were turning to flee in Hyperspace. Securing a lane, the remaining Black Sun dissapeared.
'Damage report!
'Sir, our ship has suffered minimum damage to the hull. The shields are still online.
'What about the other ship in my command?
'We are unable to make contact with them. The Command Bridge had been hit by one of their turbolasers, destroying the Main Computer and Comlink.
'But, is that even possible? He asked a bit confused. This is an...
'The ships are not as armored as you think they are, sir!an officer informed him from one of the side consoles.
Grievous closed his eyes and calmed his anger before it could spill out.
'Attach our ship to the other one and prepare a repairing team.
'Yes, sir!
The rebel nodded and exited the Bridge. The cyborg remembered the reason of their arrival here and turned to the officer that spoke earlier:
'Contact the surface, find the location of the people that needed our help.
'Right away , General!
Grievous turned back to the windows , satisfied with the overall result of the situation. He hoped Ashoka had the same initial success as he had in his mission. With a bit of luck, at the end of the week, the Rebel Cell will organize as a proper organization.

Valc Surface

The seventh moon of the planet Valc was a rather lush and green place. The familiar sight kindly made the Kaleesh remember of his homeworld. He didn't dwell too much on the past though, and returned to the present. A detachment of 20 rebels were with him as well with 2 protocal droids to establish communications with the natives. The rebel officer had marked the position of the aliens on his map and they landed closely to them, in the middle of a meadow.
'Raise your blasters and be on your guard!the General commanded as he started walking towards the village.
The grass under his talons was bowing under his heavy walk, and the tall grass needed to be cut so that the rebels could pass through the jungle.
'Are we going to stay much on this planet?a rebel asked.
'Hope not. It's so hot here!
'And humid!
The complaints continued, but the General was interested in other things more important. The flags of the village, surrounded by a small wooden fence was very familiar to him, yet he couldn't remember. He was trying so hard to recollect that a rebel had to pat his shoulderplate to tell him the villagers were before him. Grievous raised his head and was met by the sight of a strante humanoid tall bug creatures.
'We shall bring the protocol droid! The officer told Grievous.
The General didn't say anything as his mind raced through his violent, horrid past. The protocol droid appeared and went in the front of the aliens, speaking with little effort to them. After a few seconds, the droid turned towards Grievous.
'General, the people of the...
Smack!
The head of the droids fell on the ground in dozens of bits after being hit by the General fist.
The act made the aliens back a step, and the rebels to jump shocked.
'Sir....
'General, why did you do that?
Grievous was already shooting flames of utter fury towards the aliens. He picked one lightsaber from his waist and activated it.
'These.... worms are ... Huk maggots!
'Sir, they are the reason...
'Indeed!
Grievous spinned his red lightsaber as he slowly walked to them.
'Slaughter every one of them! I command you!
The rebels stared with shock as Grievous pointed one of his fingers towards the scared Huks, taking some steps back to their village.
'Sir, we just saved them! Why would we...
Grievous roared and charged right into them, cutting one of the Huks and delivering a roundhouse kick to all of them, sending their bug bodies flying into away into the village.
The rebel officer raised his blaster and shouted:
'GENERAL GRIEVOUS! In the name of the Rebel Cell, I order you to stop before you massacrate these poor creatures!
The General turned his head to him, more than furious.
'You dare defy me, rebel scum?!
'We won't allow you to kill these innocents!
All the 20 rebels raised their weapons towards the General.
'Innocents?! Grievous barked, almost amused by the rebel's statement.
'If you shoot me, you will share the same fate as the inhabitants of the village, Officer!he threatened him.
'I am sorry, General!
Grievous shook his head ignited another lightsaber fron his belt.
'So be it.
The rebels didn't expect their Commander to attack them without a second thought, but in a second, the cyborg jumped high into the air and landed on two unfortunate soliders, crushing their bodies into mud while splattering blood all over the others. The two red lightsabers of the General spinned and cut 10 heads in the next seconds, making the last 8 rebels that were standing in the rear to remain a few feet away from their former lord.
They all scattered , running for their lives, while Grievous watched them with amusement. They could run, but he would hunt them down. Traitors would never survive hid wrath. But more pressing matters were in his mind. Avenging his family and race by killing their killers...

Hammerhead Cruiser

Shaak Ti woke up from the coma she entered after being hit in the head by a part that fell from the ceiling. She was feeling cold in the medical bay, but she was more terrified by a sick feeling that she was sensing. Revenge. And death. And suffering. She could feel all the pain and anger, the feeling was so powerfull that made the Jedi almost fall on the ground. If she had been a Sith , the Force would have granted her a short surge of power but the effect was quite the opposite in her case. She managed to exit the medical bay and she was met by a medical droid.
'My lady, you must rest. The medical droid stated with a neutral voice.
'I am fine, doctor. Help me get to the Command Centre.
'I am afraid it had been disabled. We are on the other ship now.
'Where is General Grievous?she asked confused.
'He came to see you while you were unconscious and ordered me to stop you from doing anything "stupid". He wanted you to fully recover.
Shaak Ti chuckled by the care she was getting from such a remorseless creature as the Kaleesh.
'I will be fine. Return to your post.
'Roger roger!
The medical droid bowed and returned to the medical bay, while a grim scowl appeared on the Togruta's face. Why was she feeling so much dark feelings erupting in the Force , coming from the planet.
She traveled slowly to the Bridge of the General where a few rebels were operating the consoles. From the window , Shaak Ti could see the other Hammerhead's ship being repaired in the inside. The ship had took quite some damage in the battle.
She glanced back to the officers and saluted them with warmth in her voice.
'Can you please contact our forces on the ground?
'Of course, ma'am!
Shaak Ti took a seat on the General chair and waited. And waited. But no one answered.
'Is something blocking our signal?she asked the rebel.
'No... we are fine. The surface simply doesn't respond to our calls.
'But that is very unlikely. How much time since they left?she asked , starting to feel concerned.
'2 hours, ma'am!
'Maybe they are in trouble! We should send reinforcements.
'Ma'am, we have little men to spare. There are only 7 people available...
'Fine, I'll go with them! She intrerrupted him.
The Jedi sat up and asked for the coordinations of the village.
'Prepare a shuttle in the main hangar.
'It is ready, ma'am! The men will be waiting you there.
'Very well. You will remain in command until we return from the surface. Contact me if anything bad happens.
'Of course. Take care, Master Jedi!the officers saluted her and went back to work.
'May the Force be with you, solider!
With that, she turned away and exited the Command Bridge, worried by what happened in her time of inactivity...