"Prepare to move out of orbit. I will be up in a few moments."

Grievous didn't wait for a response. He switched off the comlink as his Scooter soared over the edge of the Utapaun platform, blaster bolts of crimson and cerulean flying past like falling stars. The strange skeletal arms of the cliff city reached out into the abyss, as if searching for something they had lost. He landed hard on the next level, but hardly felt the force of impact. Behind him, the Jedi's varactyl yelped in pain, its claws scraping on the durasteel. The lizard scarcely made it. Your luck is running out, Kenobi. He grabbed the electrostaff from the bottom of the wheel and held it tightly to his side.

The Scooter screamed across the high plaza, hugging tightly to the rim. The sinkhole below seemed hungry to him, like one of the mighty warbeasts of Kaleesh. It was certainly being fed enough flesh this day. On the levels below, thousands of droids and clones fought mercilessly for every metre of ground. Mechanical scraps and human limbs alike went flying into the colossal pit. He savored the screams of the dying replicates, wondering if he would ever grow tired of hearing Jango Fett perish. He laughed harshly, swerving the Scooter to avoid a heavy turret emplacement. From behind, the pattering footsteps of the varactyl. The sound brought a quick end to his mirth. On any other day, Grievous would have welcomed a chance to finally skewer Obi-Wan Kenobi. Without Skywalker to protect him, the arrogant fool would fall quickly. But there was no time.

He was no fool. The clones might be falling in droves, but they were taking too many of the Separatists' useless soldiers with them. The greater portion of their forces had been lost over Coruscant, along with Count Dooku. Now was the time to retreat and lick their wounds, as much as it rankled Grievous to admit it. The pathetic remnants of the Seperatist Council were already away, bound for Mustafar on the orders of Lord Sidius. Grievous would have to join them if there was any hope of winning this war. Killing Kenobi would taste sweet, he could not deny it, but the death of one Jedi would not destroy the Republic.

Nearly to the landing platform. Grievous swerved his Scooter off the rim. Utapau rushed past him, a blur of colors and shapes and explosions. The air was thick with the scent of discharged tibanna and pulverized stone. He landed neatly and charged through the tunnel without pausing. The weak natives cringed and pulled themselves tightly against the walls, their terrified faces a blur to Grievous as he passed. The varactyl shrieked, nearly overloading his audio receptors. Blast! Grievous looked to his right. Kenobi was directly alongside him. The Jedi's face was tight with concentration, but he did not draw his weapon as Grievous would have expected. Has the fool lost his lightsaber? There was only a moment to analyze the situation. Grievous lashed out with the electrostaff, aiming for the lizard's neck. Kenobi grabbed the shaft of the weapon and pulled it from his grasp.

Together, the Scooter and varactyl leapt from the tunnel's edge. Kenobi slammed his beast against the heavy vehicle, and in the air there was no way to correct his course. Grievous snarled and leapt from the Scooter. The landing platform rose to meet him. Past the edge of the pad, the lizard and wheel flew past. The harsh landing sent a jolt through his metal legs, and when Grievous took a step forward he knew something had been knocked out of alignment in his servomotors. Jedi scum! No matter: the sleek lines of the Soulless One were a welcome sight.

"General!"

Grievous turned. Kenobi, battered but alive, stood on the other side of the platform with the electrostaff. The young Jedi's brown hair and beard were dirty with pale dust. "Going somewhere?"

No time for this. Grievous groaned in frustration and pulled the blaster from his side, quickly firing at the Jedi. Kenobi blocked the bolts easily with his staff and charged forward.

The end of the staff took Grievous in the stomach, and his blaster went flying over the edge of the pad. The next blow bent the metal of his forelimb.

Enough! At Kenobi's next attack, Grievous grabbed the humming electrostaff and hurled a barrage of Kaleesh curses in his enemy's direction. He discarded the staff over the rim and backhanded Kenobi, savoring the answering crunch of bone. The Jedi went flying across the stone platform.

"I don't need a weapon to destroy you, filth." Kenobi picked himself up and raised his brow, blood streaming from his broken nose.

"Nor I you, my good General." Kenobi wiped his face with the sleeve of his robes, and took another step back. He made a show of looking around the platform. "Though it seems we've run out of efficient ways to kill each other. I've never been much of a brawler."

Grievous chuckled harshly. He could take this Jedi apart in a heartbeat, with nothing but his claws and rage. But Lord Sidius awaits. There is no time to waste. He looked up. More Republic gunships were descending from the atmosphere, and Venator cruisers filled the distant sky. The infernal clones would be coming soon to reinforce their master.

"Bah!" Grievous turned towards the Soulless One. "I will deal with you another time, scum. My presence is needed elsewhere."

"Oh, no. I can't simply allow you to leave."

"Try to stop me. Not even Skywalker will recognize what's left of you."

He had the cockpit open and was nearly inside the Soulless One when a shuddering wave of Force roared in from behind. The latches crumpled and tore, and the transparisteel viewport was shorn off entirely and sent spinning into the sinkhole. The control panel exploded, sending blue arcs of power through Grievous' limbs. He roared and leapt away, collapsing on to the platform. Acrid smoke rose from the front of his crippled starfighter.

"I did warn you." Grievous didn't need to look at Kenobi to see the grin on his face. "Your master is dead, general, and the Outer Rim Sieges have turned in the Republic's favor. Judging by the amount of times you've fled from our encounters, you obviously value your continued existence. This war is coming to an end. You can't run forever. Surrender to me, and I'll see you receive a fair trial."

"Ignorant fool." Grievous dragged himself slowly towards the rim. Must find another ship. Keep Kenobi talking. "Your arrogance blinds you. Lord Tyranus was but a pawn in another's game. My master lives. Even as we speak, he is orchestrating the fall of your precious Republic." He paused to cough, every guttural inhalation sending a spike of pain through his few organs.

"You speak of the one called Sidious." Kenobi frowned, and took a step forward. "It was unfortunate that Dooku died before he could tell us more about his mysterious master. Perhaps you'll be more forthcoming."

Ha. Little chance of that. Grievous had personally witnessed the interrogation techniques of the so-called compassionate Jedi Order, long before the Clone War. He would throw himself into Utapau's sinkhole before going willingly into their custody. He had pulled himself to the edge of the pad, but it had done him little good. Looking down into the mayhem and chaos, Grievous saw no platforms that he could leap to in his condition. Only the shimmering surface of the crater lake, far below.

"It's over." Kenobi's voice was close. Grievous turned over, and hissed at the sight of the Jedi looking down on him. His legs remained unresponsive. "If you make us wait for the clones, General, I can't promise they'll take you alive. You've killed an awful lot of their friends."

"Not nearly enough," Grievous snarled, grabbing Kenobi's leg in his heavy claws. He gave himself a moment to savor the Jedi's expression of shock before he launched them both off the platform with the remainder of his strength. If my story ends on this worthless planet, so too does yours. Farewell, General Kenobi.

"I have to say, general..." Kenobi paused to lean forward and take a breath, water dripping from his face. "This was truly not one of your brighter ideas."

Grievous coughed miserably. His lower half was little more than a slagged mess of broken parts and leaking hydraulics, now. He'd only managed to pull himself to shore with Kenobi's help, and Grievous knew the memory of the Jedi's rescue would haunt him for the rest of his life. There were numerous dents in the carapace of his exoskeleton, but fortunately the synthsin sack containing his vital organs was unharmed and water proofed. His arms had survived relatively intact. The same could not be said for the electro-drivers that enabled Grievous to make full use of his unconventional fighting style. Little better than an organic Kaleesh, now. Though even the weakest of his race had been able to walk around on two feet. Grievous couldn't even turn his head. He looked up at the dogfighting starfighters in the lower atmosphere, watched a wing of tri-fighters die under the firepower of the Republic's ground batteries. The last of the Confederacy transport ships would be long gone by now. Along with any hope of escape.

A white-armored hand entered his vision, and a durasteel hook dug in painfully at his neck connector. Grievous growled and swiped at the clone with his working arm, but the trooper easily dodged out of reach.

"Not so tough now, are ya?"

"Stay sharp, Boil." A clone voice of firmer constitution chimed in. "I've watched this one slip away too many times."

There were more footsteps around him, more infernal clones. Further hooks were fastened to the other parts of his exoskeleton, and the clones were careful to stay out of range of his arms. Grievous roared and pounded his fists in the sand. How humiliating. The leader of the greatest droid army in the galaxy, undone by the surface of a lake and a handful of vat-grown organics.

"Aw, now we've gone and upset him." Boil rested his hand on the sidearm on his belt. "Begging your pardon, Commander. But we don't accept surrender from any of the other droids. What makes the head clanker any different? Seems to me he's the one that deserves it most."

Kenobi spoke. "Though it may be hard to believe, Grievous is a living being, at least in part. I'd have no qualms about cutting him down in combat, but it is not the Jedi way to execute the helpless. Pull him out."

The clones heaved on the cables, straining with the effort. Grievous seethed quietly as he was dragged from the lake on to the rocky beach. His head twisted involuntarily, so he could take a full measure of his gloating adversaries. Kenobi stood in soaked robes next to his Commander, the one they called Cody. More of the Jedi's orange-marked legion surrounded them. The ones not pulling the cables had blaster rifles trained on Grievous' head. Something told him the weapons were not set to stun. Fire on me, you insects. Put my tortured existence to an end.

"Kriff, he's a big one!" Boil dropped his cable and stumbled back, panting.

Kenobi shook more water from his hair. "How goes the rest of the fighting?"

"This battle's all but won, sir." Cody nodded towards the upper levels. "Trapper and his men took out the tactical droid in Sector B-7. The remaining units are in disarray, and what ships our cruisers haven't destroyed are fleeing the system. All that's left is to mop up the remnants."

"Fine work, Commander." Kenobi clapped his commander on the shoulder. "Give my regards to the rest of the 212th."

A couple of clone engineers ran forward, armed with fusion cutters. They stood before Commander Cody and saluted crisply.

"Split the clanker from his lower half," Cody ordered. "We're not dragging all of his worthless hide back to the Core."

The engineers made quick work of it. Grievous fell forward onto the rocks when they were finished. There was no physical pain, but he had never craved more the feeling of a clone trooper's helmet being crushed under his talons.

"You'll pay for this, clone. I will obliterate Tipoca City from orbit with my turbolasers. The glass of your growth vats will be shards of glass in a fiery wind."

Boil snorted. "While you're at it, take one of those cutters to his vocabulator. Might improve his disposition."

"Now, now," Kenobi warned. "If we go cutting a piece away every time he threatens us, by the time we reach Coruscant the Senate will have nothing left to put on trial."

Cody chuckled. "Very good, sir. Oh, by the way." He unhooked a lightsaber from his waist and handed it to Kenobi. "I think you'll be needing this."

"Thank you, Cody. I'm going to meet with Tion Medon and see how his people have fared. Have your men secure our friend here in one of the transport shuttles." Kenobi put his fingers to his lips and whistled. Somewhere in the distance, his varactyl yelped in answer.

"Yes, sir." Cody's comlink trilled, and he stepped away. Boil and some other troopers approached Grievous with more cables.

"You'd better cooperate," Boil said. "It's a long way to Coruscant, you know. And you're about as helpless as a nuna calf. Who knows what could happen on the way home?"

Grievous ignored the clone's feeble threats. He knew these spineless lab experiments wouldn't dare disobey their Jedi general.

The varactyl's heavy footsteps echoed off the lake. A blue hologram materialized from the comlink in Cody's palm. It took a familiar shape.

"Commander Cody, the time has come. Execute Order 66."

"Yes, my lord."

Lord Sidious vanished before Grievous could even process that he'd appeared in the first place. The troopers carrying the cables dropped them and reached for their weapons. Grievous hissed, waiting for the bolts of light that would spell an end to his life. But the dark barrels of their rifles turned another direction.

"New orders, Cody?" Kenobi asked, half-turned towards the approaching varactyl.

"Kenobi!"

Grievous' warning gave the Jedi just enough time to ignite his lightsaber. He rolled away from the first barrage of fire, and came up to slice through Boil's rifle and the weapons of the two troopers beside him.

Cody and the other clones didn't pause. Boil and the others were cut down swiftly by the bolts intended for Kenobi, and the Jedi soon had his hands full deflecting blaster fire. He reflected the bolts back at the clones' weapons, intending to disable, but the troopers just picked up new blasters or drew vibroknifes. They offered no explanation or demands. The expressionless T-shaped visors were as devoid of soul as any droid face Grievous had ever beheld.

Kenobi couldn't keep up this dance forever. And once the clones were done with him, they'd turn to Grievous. Fool. His mercy is going to kill the both of us.

He reached out across the beach. Boil's DC-17 had fallen just within reach. With any luck, the clones would be distracted by Kenobi. Grievous grabbed the pistol and opened fire on the four troopers. Two of them fell quickly. By the time Cody and his remaining clone had turned towards the new threat, Kenobi had rushed forward.

He clubbed one clone with the hilt of his saber and then brought the line of blue energy up through Cody's arm. The commander grunted and scrambled backward on the rocks, his helmet falling off.

"Explain." Kenobi held the tip of his lightsaber to Cody's throat. "Now."

"Traitor," Cody growled, and lunged forward. The vibroknife sunk into Kenobi's shoulder. The Jedi gasped and reacted without thinking, his lightsaber cutting up into the clone's armored torso.

Kenobi fell to his knees, blood already soaking his arm. Cody fell limply on the rocks. His head turned towards Grievous. The light was going out of the Commander's eyes. What was it that Grievous saw in them, in the seconds before the end? It might have been confusion, like the eyes of a mad Corellian slicehound being put down by its beloved master. Or perhaps it was simple relief.

"Shall we both die on this beach, Kenobi? More of them will be coming." Grievous asked as the varactyl arrived. "Has your pathetic sense of mercy perished along with your once loyal soldiers?"

"I should just leave you here." Kenobi reached into his fallen friend's pack, scrambling for a bacta patch. "No doubt you've something to do with this mess."

Truthfully, Grievous had no idea what was happening. If this was a part of Lord Sidious' grand design, the Sith Lord had not seen fit to enlighten his droid general. But there would be time to sort out that particular resentment, later.

"If you mean for me to die, use your lightsaber. Let me leave this galaxy as a proud warrior. I will not be target practice for your malfunctioning clones."

Kenobi rose weakly to his feet. The bacta patch was already making short work of his shoulder injury, but Grievous doubted the Jedi would be deflecting many blaster bolts in his condition. He needs me, disabled as I may be. I've become more useful to him than his precious grown soldiers. It would be a lie to say Grievous was not enjoying the irony of the situation.

The Jedi looked from his lightsaber to the varactyl, then down at Grievous. Finally, he sighed and shook his head.

"Very well. But you'd better not slow us down."