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Fives looked after Kit with a frown. The plan was rather solid, though Fives was the only one to know the full details, but there was something Kit wasn't saying about Grievous' Lair. And with Kit still learning how to use his fake arm, and still dealing with other emotional turmoil, he was hesitant to leave it alone. They were still a few days out, anyways.
Fives made sure all the troopers were occupied before he headed off to talk to Kit. He found Kit in the training room, running through Shii-Cho. Fives recognized the form rather easily after helping Ahsoka so much with her practices, and even starting to pick up some of it on his own.
So Fives waited until he was done. He was surprised by how fluidly Kit was already moving, even though it had only been weeks. But then, Kit had to be good, if there was any chance he would be going up against Grievous. At the end, Kit scowled and rolled his shoulder before rubbing it, shaking his head. It must not be what he normally expected out of himself, then.
“Hello, Fives, was there something you needed?” Kit asked as he was getting a drink of his water.
“I was just wondering... There's something you're not saying about this place. Something that happened when you were there the first time.”
Kit sighed, looking down, shoulders slumped. “The first time I was at the lair of Grievous, I met up with my former padawan and some of his troopers. The war had... changed him in some ways, but in other ways he was the same. Nahdar thought the only way to face the war was with power and was ready to charge in at every opportunity. In the end, I was the only one to make it off the planet.”
Fives winced. “Ah, I'm sorry. And now you're going back to destroy the place.”
“Yes. I rather suspect the Chancellor chose this mission on purpose, since he would have access to all my mission records from the war.”
Fives made a face. “The more I hear about what he's doing, the more I hate him.”
Kit chuckled. “No one likes what he's doing, but we have to deal with it anyways. I think I will meditate, and then in an hour, I will begin the first lesson.”
Fives nodded. “I'll make sure everyone is available.”
“Thank you.”
.
With the days of preparation behind them, they made a stealthy landing, with a back up in orbit just in case. Kit was not going to take chances this time. While he wasn't entirely certain he cared if he lived or died here, he was not going to let any of the clones die for him if he could help it, and he especially wanted to make sure Fives made it back. Once Ahsoka was found, she'd want his company and would be devastated to lose him.
With a nod to the troopers he used the Force to blow away the fog temporarily so that they could see the door they were entering from. This time he made sure to enter from an underground entrance. His plan was to place most of their explosives on the lower levels, if they did that but ran into Grievous on the upper levels, then they could still flee and it should still be destroyed, just not as thoroughly.
The guards were easy to dispatch, as they were expecting them. Even with the upgrades they had, they were still easy enough to deal with. Kit let out a breath after they were fully in. That was a decent test of his arm, and he'd say he passed the test. Maybe he's not up to his old skill yet, but he was good enough for this part at least.
Everything went smoothly, explosives placed as planned. And then they came to the room Kit was hoping for. This part would be left out of reports. The Chancellor had no need to learn about it. They went in, and while everyone else was placing explosives and looking for things that might be good to take with them, Kit went straight for the chest in the center of the room.
He opened the chest and closed his eyes, greeting the lightsabers and their crystals with the Force. He gave them his plan and listened to their responses before nodding. He pulled one out and clipped it to his belt. The next two he handed to Fives.
Fives stepped back and turned them on and swung experimentally. Then with a nod he clipped them to his belt. The other clones stopped and stared. And Kit didn't protest, astonishing them more.
He gestured to Dogma. “Come here.” Dogma stepped closer, fidgeting a little. Kit went back to the chest, tilted his head, then nodded and pulled out two from near the bottom of the chest. “Take these two. If you get into a tight spot, use them. They've agreed to you and only you using them so they can get out of here. This is why I've been running so many drills with you all.”
Everyone exchanged looks as Dogma shakily took the lightsabers. He followed Fives' example and tested them out to feel the weight before clipping them to his belt.
One by one, the rest of the troopers each received two lightsabers with the same instructions. That left eight in the chest. Kit added those to the bag he was carrying. He turned to the troopers.
“Aside from wanting to give you all the best chance possible of escaping, I want to ensure all these lightsabers get back to the Temple. Most lightsabers get put in our memorials as they do not like being used by anyone else after the death of their wielders. There were too many for us to safely carry in the bag, which is why I decided to entrust them to you. It is just a bonus that they all have agreed to work with the one has them.” Kit smiled at the wide-eyed looks of shock and trepidation.
“Do not worry. We will all get out. That is just a precaution. Now let's move.”
They made their way through the lower levels of the lair, avoiding traps and dispatching guards along the way. The better it went, the more Kit was waiting for things to go wrong. At least it seemed that Grievous was not paying attention, or was not home at all. He was still surprised Grievous had kept using it as a base, but then, it wasn't like the Republic or the Jedi wanted to risk sending anyone there after learning how dangerous the place was.
But it was as they reached the upper levels that things started getting dangerous. Kit cursed as he hung on the edge of a platform that gave way. He was holding on with his fake arm while using his real one to levitate the three troopers caught in the trap with him. He got them to safety and only then did he pull himself up.
“I believe that Grievous has become aware of us.” He glanced up at the recorders. “He's probably watching us now. We'll have to retreat. Remember our plans.”
Everyone agreed and paired up before they started running. Fives ran next to Kit as they kept an eye out for any other traps, ready to act if it became necessary. They were nearly to the main entrance and their escape when a wall dropped down, cutting off their access to the doors.
Kit shook his head. “The next plan it is.” He looked up at the recorders. “You must be watching, General, why don't you come out instead of continuing to try to trap us. We've evaded everything you've thrown at us so far.”
“You can't defeat me, General Fisto. You'll die like your apprentice did.”
Kit barely kept himself from flinching, the only change anyone could see was a deepening frown. “I think not. We will find our escape and you can keep being the coward you are.” He destroyed the recorders and off they went to the next exit. This one was not the one that he had escaped from, all that time ago, but it was close to it.
“Was taunting him wise, general?” Fives asked as they ran.
“We needed him to stop placing obstacles and guards in our way. Encouraging him to get out of the control room means that he won't be doing so anymore, which will give us a better chance of escaping.”
“Ah, I see.” Fives nodded, though he had been hoping to escape without an encounter.
They made it to the exit they had planned and called for evac, listing off the coordinates. Then they just had to wait for the ship to arrive.
Then the guards swarmed them. It seemed that Grievous had been holding some of them back and now they were having to face a whole hoard of them.
Kit pulled out his lightsaber and the lightsaber he had rescued- this one had come from a young padawan who had stood no chance against Grievous. Fives followed his example, and so did the rest of the troopers, their anxiety turning to determination as they faced down the guards and discovered that they had trained enough with lightsaber techniques for this.
Most of the guards were down when Kit sensed Grievous. He spun and blocked the leaping attack instinctively, then engaged Grievous in a proper fight. This was much harder than the first time around. He hadn't yet gotten the hang of channeling the Force through his fake arm at all, so he could only use one hand to use the Force to push him back. His right arm was also not as strong on techniques as his left and he was overall, off balance.
The ship evac finally arrived. “Get on the ship, I'll hold off Grievous!” he yelled to the troopers.
They hesitated, but Fives urged them to listen. He stayed back, holding off the remaining guards. He was the most comfortable wielding the lightsabers so it wasn't something that was impossible for him to do on his own, though others hung back until they were the only ones then they too got on the ship.
Fives defeated the last of the guards and looked around. “It's just us, General, we'll be able to get off this rock once you're clear.”
Kit just nodded, all attention focused on the fight and figuring out the best way to get to the ship without Grievous following him.
Fives hesitated before jumping into the ship. He had a feeling the General was going to try something stupid, but he also knew that the General wasn't about to get on the ship until everyone was. So he jumped, but stayed the edge, ready if he was needed.
Kit wasn't making any progress, and he looked around at his options. There didn't seem to be any. Grievous was faster this time around, more than a year later. He wasn't giving Kit any room to back away and jump onto the ship. He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them, determination flaring. The mission would be completed.
“Detonate the bombs!” he ordered.
“But sir!”
“NOW!”
There was a moment, and then the ground started shaking as the explosives went off. Kit kept fighting, focusing on blocking, as Grievous was not letting up. But Grievous was better at staying steady on rocky ground thanks to his weird limbs. Kit stepped back and stepped on a loose rock, which slid out from under his foot and put him off balance.
He blocked three of the four lightsabers. The fourth went into his chest. He gasped at the pain. Grievous laughed, but then the hand connected to the lightsaber was severed. Fives was there with the lightsabers he was borrowing lit and in his hands.
“You're nuts if you think we're leaving you behind, General.” Fives glared at Grievous, who was still surprised and attacked, managing to destroy one of the other lightsabers. Grievous beat a hasty retreat at that point as things were literally falling apart around them. He climbed up the outside of the building.
Kit was breathing heavily through pain as Fives rushed over to him. He wasn't sure how he was still alive, but he didn't think he had much longer.
“Don't die on me now.” Fives picked him up, after making sure all the lightsabers were there.
Kit closed his eyes, focusing on managing the pain. “I don't think there's much of a choice.”
Fives didn't respond, just jumped into the ship that was now hovering a little lower than where they were. Dogma and Tup caught them. As the ship rose and left the planet's surface, they laid Kit down.
He could feel their worry. They really didn't want him to die. He didn't really want to die either. He let out a breath and sank into meditation without a word of warning to try and enter a healing trance. That was the only chance he had of survival until they could get him to a medical station.
Fives stared in alarm as Kit went completely limp. A quick check showed that he was alive. Fives took charge, as the highest ranking clone on the mission. They went to the nearest medical station.
He submitted a quick report on the success of the mission, the possibility that Grievous may not have survived, but he had been last seen alive, and Kit's current status. Then he made sure everyone was okay, collected the lightsabers and waited.
.
Kit woke up days later in the medical station, having been healed via bacta tank. He didn't have a chance to find out what happened after he entered his healing trance, as he almost immediately had to report to the Council (and Chancellor) now that he was awake.
Then he was immediately sent off on his next mission, even though he was supposed to wait at least three days, preferably more. The only positive was the destination of the next mission was several days away, so by the time he arrived, he was back to normal.
And so... the long grind of missions began.