Star Wars: Rath (Shaak ti x oc)

Chapter ten belly of the beast

As Jedi master Kit Fisto entered Vassek's orbit another ship came out of hyperspace. The Wraith Rath's personal star fighter, he and K-2SO were looking for Nute Gunray as well, [You do realize we're in the middle of nowhere right?] K asked, Rath sighed this was the fiftieth time the droid asked that question, "Yes I know we're in the the middle of nowhere K..." he said, with subtle annoyance, "But that's the Republic beacon we're looking for, contact Outer Rim Command." K-2 grumbled something inaudible to anyone who wasn't Rath, "Do you want to be dismantled and used for spare parts K?" Rath asked, K immediately contacted Luminara Unduli and Ahsoka Tano, "Master Luminara young Tano, Fisto and I have tracked our stolen ship to the Vassek system." Rath reported, [So has master Fisto's old padawan Nahdar Vebb, he's already on the surface.] Luminara said, Rath hid a grimace under his mask, "I'm sure Kit'll be happy to see Nahdar again, but I have some...shall we say, reservations of him, don't worry it won't affect the mission." Rath assured, [I'll transmit the coordinates for the rendezvous point.] Ahsoka said, [And general, sorry we lost that slimy double-dealer...] "Eh it's not your fault, and don't worry kid we'll catch Gunray yet." Rath replied then gave a friendly wink to her, the young Togruta smiled, [Good hunting.] Ahsoka said bowing, the communication ended as Rath hit a few switches, "Take us down K-2." he said, [You do realize that the odds of us catching Gunray are two thou-] K-2 began, "I don't want to hear it, and K...never tell me the odds!" Rath yelled at the droid, as the ship landed K-2 found another reason to complain, [I can't see a damn thing...] he said, "Well I can't see anything either..." Rath retorted, "I'm sure a little mist won't hurt you...stay with the ship, I mean it this time." Rath said sternly, K-2 mentally cursed hating that he was programmed to follow Rath's orders, the cyborg then spied Kit Fisto beside him, "Master Fisto, good to see you again." he said, Kit turned letting out a hardy laugh, "Indeed general, so shall we?" he said, "You sure you're up for this? you've been in a chair for so long I'm pretty sure your skill's dulled." Rath joked, the Jedi laughed at that, "Trust me, I've been staying in practice." he replied, "I just hope the same could be said for Nahdar...he was hotheaded even before the war, or so I've been told." Rath said, "But you're the Jedi, so I'll leave the Force to the experts." "Your concerns are noted Rath." Kit said, after a bit the two found their other companions, a few Clone troopers and a Calamari Jedi, both knew who the Calimari was, Kit chuckled, "Nahdar!" he called, Nahdar turned around and bowed, "Congratulations on passing the trials, I'm sorry the war prevented me from seeing your training through to the end." "You were missed master." Nahdar said removing his hood, "But it is an honor, to finally serve beside you as a knight." Rath rolled his eyes as he looked at the two, "General." A clone said, "We've pinpointed the tracking beacon's location, to the south end of th gorge." "Then let's have a look." Kit said, Nahdar was eager to move, "Allow me to show the way." he said, as he turned to face the mist wall, reaching out with the Force he moved the mist away to reveal an entrance, "Showoff..." Rath whispered, Kit on the other hand was impressed, "Charming, let's not keep the viceroy waiting." he stated, Rath looked at the two Clones behind him, "Niner, Bel, look after the ships, we may need backup if this place is what I think it is..." he said, they responded with a 'Yes sir' and stayed with the ships, [Does this mean I can come along?] K asked, "No it doesn't K, stay with the Wraith." Rath deadpanned, the droid then reentered the ship, as the clones Jedi and cyborg neared the entrance, Rath noticed a distinct lack of guards, "I have a bad feeling about this place, we should proceed with caution." Rath warned, "No guards? That's odd." Kit added, "The entrance looks sealed." Nahdar added, (Thank you Captain Obvious...) Rath thought, "We specialize in making 'entrances'." The Clone commander said priming a thermal detonator, Nahdar activated his lightsaber, "This will make less noice." he said, both ran at the door, only to be stopped by Rath, "Patience both of you..." he said, "There's no such thing as an unopenable door..." the kaleesh took a second look at the door and noticed a slightly loose panel on it, "Aha." he said as he pushed it in, the massive door opened and Nahdar put his lightsaber away, Rath lead the way, his night vision kicking in as the darkness surrounded the group, "Smell that?" a Clone asked another, "Yeah, doesn't smell like droids to me..." Rath listened to them talk, he then saw familiar lettering on the walls, "Hmm..." he muttered, "These markings are kaleesh letters, old ones to, but if these are here, then this is...ah hell, I hope I'm wrong about this." Kit was looking around, "I sense there's something here..." as everyone looked around they see anything, "Scanners are negative general." the commander said, as soon as he said that a loud roar was heard, the clones then looked around blasters ready, "Well that was something..." one of them said, as they kept moving Rath was starting to hear droid chatter, a few minutes later they found a small droid squad, and Viceroy Nute Gunray, "All droids stay on guard, be ready for anything." Gunray ordered, [Roger roger.] a droid said, Rath looked at the two Jedi and thought of something, "I think I'll let you two handle the droids, wouldn't want to make it to easy now would we?" he whispered jokingly, earning a few hushed snickers from his companions, Kit and Nahdar moved up, "Double shifts, for everyone!" Gunray yelled, [Uh Viceroy?] a droid started, "You must protect me at all costs." the nemoidian interrupted, [Uh Viceroy, the Jedi are here.] the droid said, but Gunray flat out ignored it, meanwhile Kit and his former padawan had drawn their lightsabers, "I know they're near..." Gunray said, "Once those Jedi pick up my trail they never leave me alone." Kit and Nahdar ignited their lightsabers, finally the droid flinched, [They're right behind you.] the droid said, that got the Viceroy's attention, "WHAT WHERE!!?" Gunray yelled panicked, the droid pointed, "Do something! You blast them!" the droids opened fire, the two Jedi blocking and deflecting any bolts that were fired at them, Rath was watching amused at the futile resistance of the battle droids, [Have you ever killed a Jedi?] A droid asked another, [No never.] It replied, [Me neither.] the droids kept firing when one of them had his head shot off by Rath, Nahdar then jumped cutting another droid in half, then started deflecting blaster fire, soon there were only two droid left, [Don't even think about it Republic dogs!] One said, before it was cut down by Rath, "Woof." he said tauntingly, the other was split in two before Nahdar destroyed it more with the Force, Kit noticed this and started reprimanding him, "I didn't forget to teach you restraint, did I my old padawan?" he asked, "I'm sorry master." Nahdar apologized, "I got carried away." "Got too aggressive more like..." Rath said, "First lesson of the Jedi, those who have power should restrain themselves from using it." Kit nodded approvingly, "Master Shaak ti taught you well, General." he complemented, Rath gave a nod which was a silent thank you, he then turned to the chair Gunray was in, "Lieutenant, did you get them?" Gunray asked, Rath then sighed, (There's no way he's in that chair, not physically anyway...) he thought, "No..." Nahdar said, "But we have you Viceroy!" the knight used the Force to move the chair to confirm Rath's suspicion, Gunray was there, but in hologram form, [You have nothing Jedi fools!] he declared, [I welcome you to your DOOM!] the Viceroy then started laughing tauntingly, before ending the transmission, "The tracking beacon..." Nahdar seethed, "They knew we were coming." "I should've known Gunray wasn't here..." Kit said, "It was suspicious, when the droids warned him he would've ran off screaming like the gods damned coward he is!" Rath finished, Nahdar was about to say something before another transmission came in, [I apologize for the deception master Jedi.] Count Dooku gloated, "Count Dooku, you have a great talent for unexpected appearances!" Kit said, Rath looked at Dooku, "Hmm...so you're the infamous Count Dooku...meh doesn't look that strong." he said, "Before you begin barking Sith, I've read the Jedi's records of you, I was unimpressed, and yeah I do have a low opinion of you." Dooku let a sneer appear on his face, before recomposing himself, [As long as we are fast friends.] he said, "Ha! In your dreams old man." Rath retorted, [Indeed.] the Count said, he then turned to the Jedi, [While the Viceroy is unavailable for capture, allow me to offer an alternative prize...] the transmission then ended and a red light started flashing, "This has got to be a trap..." the clone commander said, Rath was in thought, his theory on where they were becoming more correct, "It looks like Dooku's trying to catch someone, and we're the bait." Kit said, "But who has the trap been set to catch?" Nahdar wondered, "Shall we, find out?" the Calamari then pressed the button, as a side door opened, the group entered the hallway, as a door opened, revealing a statue of a kaleesh warrior, Rath knew who it was depicting and sighed, (Boy do I hate being right all the time...) he thought, a few rooms later Kit saw two more statues, "Hmm...this place looks like a shrine to that strange warrior..." he said, "I know this warrior, he was my brother..." Rath said his usual attitude replaced by a serious one, "Is he dead?" Kit asked, "Gods I wish, no he's alive and you've seen him before." Rath said, "And we're in his lair." as he said that they walked through a door and entered a room of parts, parts for Grievous, Kit's eyes widened as he put Rath's explanation and the parts together, "This is the Lair of General Grievous!" he exclaimed, Rath nodded, "And I doubt we'll be alone for much longer..." Rath said, as the group progressed Grievous's starfighter had exited hyperspace, unaware of his uninvited guests.

Yet another cliffhanger. Rate comment and give advice so I can improve, next time Grievous battles the Jedi and Rath, later!