Savage-Time Chapter 26 (Patreon)

[Coruscant, Mon Mothma’s Private Residence]

General Grievous

Grievous stared at the shaking human in front of him with contempt, he had heard things about her but as always when it came to rumors things had been greatly exaggerated.

“If you won’t answer me then you’re useless” with one hand the cyborg picked up the struggling senator and walked slowly to the windows.

Most would say that he was being dramatic or wasting time, but the truth was that this new body that was built for him could only move at top speeds for a very limited amount of time, this was offset by the amount of armor his new form provided and the absolutely insane arsenal hidden in it.

As he walked the general noted the despair in their eyes, the knowledge that for all their influence, for all their power, they were worth less than thrash to him. Savage didn’t want unnecessary deaths but Grievous still remembered how the senators of the republic ignored the plight of his world and the fact that when he delivered justice to the invaders that had killed so many of his people, they sent their Jedi dogs to hunt his fellow warriors until his people were left as roaming bands that now fought each other.

One day he would return to unite his people, but the cyborg first had to make the Republic pay for what they had done to him.

“Please were the peace faction of the senate if you had a shred of decency in your body don’t kill the people behind you” it surprised him that the woman wouldn’t plead for her life, it was admirable in a way, Grievous couldn’t see the fear of death in her eyes.

The back of the senator touched the glass and a calm look settled on her face, the cyborg pushed until cracks formed in the glass and noticed that there were no changes to her expression.

Shards of glass went down into the depths of Coruscant and some pierced the senator’s body, Grievous held her with one hand dangling her over the abyss.

“Look down senator, look into the darkness that you can’t see from the heights of your hypocrisy” the woman didn’t, she stared into his eyes just like any other Kaleesh would have done at the moment of their deaths.

“You have a warrior’s spirit”

Then he let go.

“MOOON!” one of the humans screamed as the senator plummeted to her death in the lower levels of Coruscant.

“Every time you fail to tell me where the Kaminoan is I will throw one of you out the window”

Murmurs broke out among the humans but the general didn’t have to wait long before the degenerates that serve as the Republics representatives pointed to him the place where the Kaminoan was, Grievous signaled for his dorids to move and behind the pointed door the form of Lama Su appeared.

“Prime minister, would you like to meet your death with some respect or should I just have you shot right now?”

A credit to his species the Kaminoan walked towards him slowly reluctantly but more importantly without fear, the cloner simply looked annoyed.

“Get this over with” the dismissive tone of Lama Su made Grievous clench his fists but he stayed his hand.

“Lucky for you, you will live for a while longer but perhaps you won’t think it luck after we ask our questions” the senators around them spared at the spectacle and some of the brave ones tried to leave but his guards quickly used their weapons to take down anyone foolish enough to try to move.

“What could your masters need from me?” there was genuine confusion in his tone but Grievous knew exactly what to say.

“We want to know everything that you and Tyrannus talked about and if you put any more surprises in the clones apart from their special chips”

The cloner’s mouth opened and closed several times, not a word leaving his lips as the words drilled into his skull and Grievous enjoyed the genuine fear now reflected in Lama Su’s eyes.

“Surprised are you,” Grievous gloated before a coughing fit interrupted him “We know many things you would like to stay hidden and we want to know more”

One of the Magna Guards used his staff and hit the prime minister in the head knocking him out, the droids grabbed him and then jumped out the window. It was a great plan, the droids would activate parachutes and move to a safe location using the planet’s criminal underworld, there Lama Su would be tortured for the information.

Grievous followed but not before throwing a bomb at the senators the beeping sound of the armed explosive led to horrified gasps and Grievous said some parting words “You better run if you want to survive”

With his piece said the general followed the droids and jumped from the window as he did, Grievous noticed that there were some vehicles obstructing the view and that his guards were being held there by a group of…Jedi.

“HAHAHAHAHA!” truly there was no better way to end this mission than by killing some Jedi.

His armored form revealed thrusters, not unlike those on astromechs but far more powerful, in the blink of an eye Grievous was in front of his guards and facing the Jedi. He recognized the face of Mace Windu and the lithe form of Shaak Ti, the others were unknown to the general.

“A new droid?” the woman asked but it looked like Windu recognized him.

“General Grievous today is the day you pay for all the atrocities you’ve committed, in the name of the Republic I’m giving you one last warning and an offer for surrender” the sheer arrogance of the Jedi amazed him but their habit of talking had given grievous the opportunity to prepare.

“Surrender?” Grievous mocked as his body changed, his arm transformed into weapons, one into a handheld sonic cannon and the other into a flamethrower the growing concern on the Jedi’s faces was just what he needed “You should be the ones saying that”

The droids following the protocols of their programming for this mission jumped further down and when one of the unnamed Jedi tried to follow Grievous blasted with his sonic weapon, in an instant the Jedi’s inside liquified and the young human dropped dead.

“You will be staying here with me” The two council members and the Rodian Jedi ignited their weapons, but they would be useless against his. Savage had made this body into the perfect hunting and the Jedi weren’t prepared for what the cyborg still had in store.

_______________________________________

Admiral Trench

Trench knew from the reports he saw with the Jedi what a single force user was capable of, in the war he had read report after report detailing how a Jedi would somehow change the tide of battle by himself, that didn’t prepare Trench for the absolute carnage that Savage Opress was dealing to the clones.

Trench saw from the droid’s eyes as the man that lead the CIS from the shadow went through a battalion of clones as if they were nothing more than dirt, the man was ruthless and didn’t hesitate to do things that would have a great psychological impact.

The admiral winced as he another clone lose his arm because Savage pulled on it, the fact that his boss then beat another clone to death with it would stay in his memory for a long time, the almost sophisticated and careful persona that Trench had seen from the Zabrak was nowhere to be seen, only the ancient enemy of the Jedi remained.

The Sith lifted one of the Republic walkers with the force and threw it against another causing an explosion so big it engulfed him, the fire parted in the Zabrak’s face as he laughed.

Rock and debris were raised into the air before they came crashing down onto another group of clones, if there was something to be said about the warriors of the Republic it was that they lacked fear, another group heroically charged to their deaths a single red blade cutting them in half at the waist.

Footsteps came from behind him and Trench heard the door open, the little lady that Savage had been traveling with had made her way to the droid army with useless legs, she had dragged herself to them because those were the orders of her master. Such brutal training was beyond unthinkable but as he continued watching Savage’s rampage Trench admitted that it had its merits.

“Master!” the girl was surprised; it was probably the first time she saw her master acting like a Sith would or maybe she was simply unaccustomed to the bloodshed.

Arcs of lighting came from Savage’s hands blasting away at some speeders that were surrounding him “You look better” Trench’s mandibles clicked as he observed the girl.

“I just had bad luck, the wound wasn’t very dangerous but they needed to reconnect my tendons” the girl pouted as if the shame she had suffered was somehow greater than the pain of having her legs hit by a blaster.

Trench’s mandibles clicked again as he observed her, the pale face of the young woman reminded him bout another woman who used to serve the CIS

“You’re one of the witches”

She looked surprised but smiled as she spoke “Yes, my name is Merrin and I’m the new apprentice!” the cheerfulness of the words was at odds with the way that he imagined the Sith to be and how her predecessor used to be.

“Savage is also from Dathomir, is he not?” curiosity was dangerous, but Trench could never curb his bad habits.

“Yes! He was chosen and given to Count Dooku because he was strong” the sound of crunching metal and the laugh of the Zabrak certainly helped with her statement.

“Do you really understand what it means to be a Sith?” he couldn’t help but ask her.

“Yes…No. I- hmm. It means that I will fight the Jedi and obey my Master” she said nodding to herself

Well, she wasn’t wrong but the answer was a basic one, his mandibles clicked as he mulled over the thought.

“Trench” the voice of his employer came from the comms and soon his image materialized in front of him “The battle has been won, tell the Umbarans that they can kill or capture the survivors themselves”

The image was cut and Trench moved to comply with the orders, privately he wondered if this was what the old Admirals of the Sith empire felt, for all his power, Savage managed only the top of the CIS, intermediaries, businessmen, and the senators of the Separatists ruled over the people in truth but only as long as they had the favor of the Sith and if they didn’t comply…well, Trench had just seen proof that it was true that a force user was worth one thousand troops.

“Hey, did you know the previous witch that worked with you?” the question of the girl broke Trench out of his dark thoughts.

“I did, but only in passing but I’m well aware of her power. It was a shame she died she was very useful-“ the room felt cold and Trench noticed that a thin mist was rising from the ground but as soon as it came it disappeared.

“Really?” the cheery disposition of the girl didn’t change but the sudden edge of her words took him by surprise. His mandibles clicked again and the admiral wondered just what had bothered her.

Then he realized that the girl probably wouldn’t be here if Ventress was alive, that and that Sith were usually territorial, Count Dooku never liked to be too far apart from his home planet and the new capital of the CIS was suspiciously close to Dathomir all things considered, a teenaged girl displaying jealousy was normal for mammals.

“Can you tell me some things about her? you seem very observant so I’m sure you know something”

Trench wasn’t being paid enough for this.