Deceptions Unveiled

Chapter 5

Shaak Ti entered the flagship's Command Bridge. It was very similar , almost identycal to the fallen Invisible Hand. One difference was the coloring. This one had blueish color rather than grey and green lights and some red stripers on the consoles. The Throne of the room where the commander was staying was occupied. Only two antennas could be seen from the back of it, but the Togruta knew they were the cyborg's nonetheless. Two magnaguards were positioned at the entrance and some B1 droids were at the consoles, continuingly typing coordinates and issuing orders to the rest of the ship. Shaak Ti approached the chair and put her hands on it, startling Grievous. He recognized the red skin and stood up, almost hitting his dark cape to redress it's form to look better. He turned around to see the Togruta with a neutral stance on her face. His raspy voice broke the silence of the bridge.
'Yes?he asked curious.
'Hello there, General. May I ask why I have been left in the dark?
'I fail to see what you mean-
'Then I am sure you can tell me what you and Kaden discussed.
The General stopped and felt like gasping for air but obviously nothing happened.
'My discussion with the smuggler was ... unncecessary for you to know.
The Togruta crossed her arms at her chest and raised an eyebrow. She stared at him expectangly. Grievous waved his hand weakly:
'Don't look at me like this... go, I have work to do. Fighting against a genius mastermind is hard...
'I am sure you can handle that. Aren't you one too?
Grievous grinned at the sudden compliment.
'Still, even if that is true-
'How modest of you... Anyway, what is this ship?she asked taking her hands to motion a circle before her at the bridge.
'The Lucid Voice!he proudly stated.
'Your flagships have really strange names...
'The Lucid Voice is a Providence Class Ship but modified. It is the sister of the Invisible Hand. Along with the Colicoid Swarm, these three ships have spread terror in the Clone Wars, mostly because both sides knew they were mine.
'So you mean you had three super powerfull flagships during the war?
'Yes...most people don't notice, but each ship had stripes on it's hull. The Invisible Hand- yellow. The Lucid Voice has red stripes.
'Well then, I am sure you don't miss your old cruiser. Where is the Colicoid Swarm?
Grievous growled when he heard the question.
'It is... on Zygerria.
Shaak Ti frowned. A subliminal stare appeared in her eyes that looked at Grievous suspiciously.
'I assume you have a plan about retrieving it?
'I do... but it is confidential.
Now Shaak Ti had enough. Her calm yet neutral stance disspeared, leaving fire in her eyes. She outbursted and clenchted her fist angrily:
'How can you keep these things CONFIDENTIAL?! I deserve to know! Why you keep it so secret?!
All the droids, even the magnaguards turned their heads around and stopped their work, curious to see the outcome of the conversation. The General backed a step away, fearing the newly-discovered anger in the Togruta.
'I... I am not sure how to explain it....
'You'd better do it now! Besides... I already know it!
'It is... wait what?!
Shaak Ti checked her belt and revealed a listening tracker.
'You aren't as cautious as you should be, but that doesn't matter now.
Grievous was so ashamed by his stupidity, he slowly tooka few steps and placed a hand on a console with a false tired look.
'Allright... we are going to Zygerria... to strike a deal with the Slave Guild.
'A former ally of the seperatists?
'Yes, I even knew one of the slave masters, Darts o'Nar. He has the Colicoid Swarm under his command.
'But the Zygerrians deal with selling entire Togruta and Twi'lek populations! We can't deal with them! We must disemble their system!
Grievous shook his head.
'Impossible. They are a key player in my designs. We need them and forcing them to stop selling Togrutas would be unproductive.
Shaak Ti frowned largely at his opinion.
'They are my people, Grievous... very well. But I won't take part in this!
She turned her body and left the room quickly with heavy steps. One of the droids commented:
'That wasn't very nice, was it General?
The cyborg snarled furiously and took the foolish droid and tore him apart. He threw his broke parts away while breathing heavily and went to his chair. He couldn't do it. Even if Shaak Ti wanted the right thing to do... without the Separatist fleet that Grievous knew the Zygerrians had, the General would be unable to attack Coruscant. No, he was right. It was a small sacrifice the slaves will have to endure in order to stop Palaptine. When everything will end, he will deal with the Zygerrians, but now it wasn't the time. The cyborg waved his hand and from a lower level, General Kalani appeared.
'Prepare to jump into Hyperspace. Location: Zygerria.
'Yes, General.