3rd Person

"Try not. Do, or do not, there is no try."

Every youngling that walked the Jedi path was bound to hear Master Yoda's famous words once or twice.

There is only success, or failure. No middle ground.

You either succeed, or you fail.

Or...

Is that really what Yoda meant?

Ahsoka

"Pssshhew!"

Brilliant indigo bloomed from the heavy hilt.

I couldn't help myself... when I witnessed Zevon ignite his lightsaber for the first time, my mouth opened into a smile wider than a the largest landing strip.

Behind Zevon, the once roaring inferno started to falter.

The flames died a slow death, ebbing away until their roar was merely a whimper.

"nnnnkNNNNNNNknnnnnnkNNNNNN!"

Zevon's blade stood out in the silence, the indigo plasma screaming a grating melody... a sound unlike any I'd ever heard from a lightsaber before.

A cry, a growl...? It was hard to tell.

With the droids' blasters still cooling, the droid general's gaze lingered on Zevon.

When I glanced back at my closest friend, I realized that I'd left his vision.

Everything had, except Grievous.

The two of them saw each other, and nothing else.

Grievous, standing behind his legions of battle droids.

Zevon, standing atop the wreckage of his master's starfighter.

I blinked...

And then Zevon was on the wall.

Zevon

"Tap... Tap... Tap... Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap! Tap! Tap!"

The soles of my boots surfed on durasteel panels, carrying me over the countless rows of battle droids.

My enemy's sunken, yellow eyes followed me still; we hadn't broken eye contact.

His gaze sharpened. So did mine.

Lightsaber Form IV, Ataru: Jetstream

"Tap!" "Woooooooosh!"

I pushed off the wall, converting my speed into a single, rippling air current.

Grievous

In the blink of an eye, he was above me... entering a nosedive with his lightsaber held high.

"nnnnnnnkkNNNNNNN!"

The fledgling Jedi flew fast, almost faster than my circuits could process his movement.

Almost.

"Pssshew!" "Pssshew!"

"Ksssshhhh!"

I rejuvenated my lightsabers, crossing them together and repelling his aerial attack.

Thwarted, the Jedi tumbled, his momentum carrying him a great distance behind me.

Zevon POV

I stopped myself just before crashing into the hangar wall.

Before I skidded to a halt, my eyes were already back on my foe.

'Focus.' I demanded, crouching.

Lightsaber Form IV, Ataru: Jetstream

I jetted toward Grievous again, until I stepped into his domain...

His radius - the spherical space surrounding him that marked his saber reach - was a kill zone, a space where all Jedi feared to tread...

But I had my own radius.

Danger!

"nnnnNNNNNNNN!"

A blue lightsaber lunged for my throat...

Lightsaber Form IV, Ataru: Slipstream

I veered to the left...

"Tap!"

Rebounded off the wall...

And struck.

"Kssshhhhhkkkk!"

To my dismay, Grievous warded off the indigo slash, expertly flourishing his green blade behind his back.

Foiled again, I was forced to wrestle against my excess momentum a second time.

I had to roll to slow down.

"Huff... huff..." I gasped, winded, turning to face Grievous again.

Sweat trickled down from my brow, the salty liquid corroding my eyes like splashes of sea spray.

...Fatigue had already bubbled to the surface, stealing air from my lungs faster than I could replace it.

Moving at these speeds, the physical strain on my body was beyond even my limits... but I had to keep going... to overwhelm Grievous.

I crouched down again.

I couldn't afford to slow down for even a second...!

Lightsaber Form IV, Ataru: Jetstream

Grievous

He came at me from the right, a strike emerging from his miniature cyclone...

"Ksshhhk!"

It failed to so much as scratch me.

Next, he attacked my left...

"nnnnnNNNNNNNNKK!"

I cleaved upward with my green blade, and downward with my blue blade.

"nnnNNNNNNNNNNN!" "nnnnnNNNNNN!"

"Wooooooosh!"

He dodged, spinning to his right...

And then went for my left again.

"Ksssshhh!"

Again and again, the fledgling Jedi charged at me with the same farce...

Expending himself quicker than a funeral pyre lit during the dry season.

"Ksssshhhk!"

As soon as he entered my range, he was gone in a flash. His strategy was obvious.

He couldn't engage me directly for too long... our last bout must have taught him that. Challenging my strength was suicide. Instead, he'd opted to control the duel with his speed.

A troublesome tactic, but he wouldn't be able to keep it up forever.

"Kssshhhhh!"

What put me off more than anything was his bladework, it was shoddier than it should have been... even for a padawan. And yet, that made him all the more unpredictable.

"Kssssshhhh!"

In a blinding flash, Indigo momentarily reunited with green and blue, briefly dividing the two before skirting away.

"I never expected you'd come back so... slippery, but I have to say... I'm disappointed." I lamented, mocking the youngling. "Your friend was better."

"Tap. Tap. Tap! Tap! Tap!"

Rather than retorting, he responded with another mad dash.

"Kssssshhhh!"

"Kssshhh!"

"Ksssshhhhh!"

The ensuing exchange was longer, a triad of acrobatic attacks aimed at my vital organs...

For the first time in the duel, sparks flew... and were swallowed by the metal floor.

Once I parried his last attack with my green blade, I sighted a glorious opportunity within my grasp.

The runt was yet airborne... and wide open.

"nnnnnnNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

Swinging my green saber back around, I targeted the boy's torso...

A flicker of fear flashed in his irises...

"Bam!"

His boot impacted my chest... and he slipped out of my grasp.

"Koff! Koff!" I hacked, glaring at the runt as the stabbing chest pain subsided.

"Huff... huff..." he panted, his eyes sparkling with exhaustion... and fear.

Perhaps I could provoke him.

"Are you also here to avenge her... Master Luminara...?" I mocked. "That delusion seems all too common today... the delusion of retribution... and justice...!"

Unaffected by my ramblings, the young Jedi pushed off the hangar wall again.

"Tap. Tap. Tap! Tap! Tap!"

He zig-zagged so quickly, the indigo plasma morphed into a bolt of lightning...

"Ksssshhh!" "Ksssshhh!"

"Kssshhh!"

"You dirty zealots... always spouting about justice...!" I continued, my anger spiking.

"Ksssshhh!"

"Kssshh!"

"Is that what you really want? Justice...!?" I raged, my voice shattering into a thousand serrated pieces. "Then die already...!"

"Ksshhh!"

"Ksssshhhhh!"

Again, he responded only with electric, targeted slashes.

No acknowledgement, no rebuttal...

Just focus.

...

It seemed that for the boy, bantering back and forth was just a waste of breath...

Logical, but surprising. Certainly not what I was used to.

'I really must kill General Kenobi one of these days.' I grumbled internally.

"Tap. Tap. Tap! Tap! Tap!"

As he zig-zagged again, I recalled a warning I'd received years and years prior... spoken by my late father.

'Words can be powerful, but they are not the weapon of a warrior.'

My fingers crept toward the blasters hidden in the folds of my cloak...

Zevon

"Tap. Tap. Tap! Tap! Tap!"

I zipped around the hangar; around Grievous, and under him as well.

I was a storm cloud hanging over him, a thick mist of the same color as the dull hangar.

As I dashed in chaotic, unpredictable patterns... I sank closer to the floor, almost laying on my stomach.

In fact, I nearly sank into the cold, gray floor, with my eyes poking out of the surface like an amphibious ambush predator...

My trajectory brought me closer to the droid general...

"nnnnnnnnnnnnn!"

And I hacked at his ankles...

"nnnNNNNNNNN!" "Thunk!"

I missed... my blade slicing through air, and Grievous tripped me.

Everything slowed down in an instant...

...

My entire body, plummeting toward the ground.

Grievous, shearing at my neck with his blue blade of plasma.

My breathless heart - an engine gone critical - barely fueling my strained body.

The lack of oxygen sedated my brain, slowing my thought process.

Yet, it also diluted my thoughts into one single constant: focus.

Lightsaber Form IV, Ataru: Slipstream

"nnnnnnnnnNNNNNN!" "SSSSSSSSS!"

I shifted my head back, barely escaping certain death as a stray thread of brown cloth merged with the plasma, fizzling into oblivion.

"Shhhhhhkk!" "Aaagh!"

I slashed, my indigo saber nicking the cyborg's midsection...

And I rolled, securing a safe distance between Grievous and I.

Once I zeroed in on the cyborg again, I assessed the damage I'd caused.

Not much... but judging by the large brand on his back, someone had already put him through a gauntlet earlier.

I glared in desperation.

He had to be tired, weakened, anything!

"Huff... huff... huff... huff..." I wheezed, barely able to focus.

Everything was blurry... and my heartbeat was entering dangerous territory.

I, for one, was at my limit.

I had to end it... now!

Lightsaber Form IV, Ataru: Upper Atmosphere

Upper Atmosphere... the final stretch of my current Ataru mastery.

I merged every jetstream into a sphere, trapping Grievous in the unchecked wrath of wind...

A breathless stream of spinning lightsaber attacks.

"Kssshhh!" "Ksssshhhhh!" "Ksssshhhh!"

"Kssshhhh!" "Ksshhhhh!" "Kssshhhhh!"

"Kssssshhh!" "Kssssshhh!" "Kssssshhh!"

"Kssssshhh!" "Kssssshhh!" "Kssssshhh!"

Grievous

"Kssssshhh!" "Kssssshhh!" "Kssssshhh!"

"Kssssshhh!" "Kssssshhh!" "Kssssshhh!"

"Kssssshhh!" "Kssssshhh!" "Kssssshhh!"

In a last ditch effort, the fledgling Jedi wrapped me in a bind... a stranglehold of swift strikes.

It was akin to a serpent constricting its prey...

"Kssssshhh!" "Kssssshhh!" "Kssssshhh!"

"Kssssshhh!" "Kssssshhh!"

"Kssssshhh...!"

The ordeal was suffocating... but I survived.

"Kssshhh..!"

"Huff... huff... huff...!" the Jedi gasped, hunched over.

His fiery wrath was gone, reduced to cool cinders.

"Sir... your orders?" a nasally, robotic voice suddenly inquired.

One of my B1 commanders.

Of course... we were in the middle of a battle.

"Kill the rest. Use whatever tactics are required to secure that end." I commanded, annoyed. "I will deal with this one personally."

"Tap. Tap. Tap! Tap! Tap!"

To my surprise, the hooded youngling turned away, running away down the narrow hallway I'd come down earlier.

"Sir... he's getting away..." the commander pointed out.

"I can see that!" I snarled, promptly giving chase.

"Clack. Clack. Clack! Clack! Clack!"

That lightsaber would be mine.

Again - through pure reflex - I fidgeted with my concealed blasters.

I even caught myself considering splitting my arms into four.

...

'No.' the bygone warrior within me decided.

Zevon

For as long as I could remember... my connection to the force was barely even perceptible...

My lightsaber skills were subpar...

But my strength was potent, my speed oustanding, and my stamina unmatched.

My physical superiority was always a given, so I'd never once questioned it before.

But Grievous...

I'd already replayed the fight in my head, so many times...

But, every time, I'd overlooked an obvious detail.

'He doesn't get tired...!' I realized, my eyes widening in horror.

While the pale cyborg still possessed his lungs - incarcerated within his chest with the rest of his vital organs - nearly all of his muscle tissue was long since peeled away.

Grievous had little need for respiration.

And I thought I'd be able to outpace him, outlast him...

I was egregiously outmatched.

...If I could only make it there, I'd have a chance... in spite of my drained state.

Grievous

"Tap. Tap. Tap! Tap! Tap!"

"Clack. Clack. Clack! Clack! Clack!"

Our footsteps blended together as we raced through the republic cruiser...

Even more so as I lunged at the unsuspecting Jedi from behind!

Zevon

Danger!

"Kssshhhh!"

I spun instinctively, parrying the piercing attack with seconds to spare. The bigger problem was this: we'd swapped places, and Grievous now blocked my path... all two skeletal meters of him.

Despite my best efforts, he'd forced me into a scuffle.

I needed to wriggle out and quickly....

I had a specific form in mind.

Lightsaber Form III, Soresu: Looking Glass.

"Kssshhhh!"

"Kssshhhh!"

"Kssshhhh!"

Master Kenobi's preferred technique really did wonders when it came to dealing with the droid general...

"Clunk!"

Before I could process my lightsaber being twisted out of my hand, I heard it clatter onto the floor.

There wasn't even time for the terror to take hold.

"nnnnNNNNNNNNNNNNN!" "nnnnnnnnNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

Grievous barreled toward me with each of his lightsabers crossed, mere seconds away from removing my head from my shoulders.

I had nothing to defend myself with, and there weren't seconds to dodge this time...

Except...!

Making a split second decision, I thrust my palm toward the droid general, as if to force push him.

I'd never managed it before, and I certainly wouldn't now...

But Grievous didn't know that.

His eyes doubled in size, and he pivoted off course, killing his momentum.

It bought me a second, which was all I needed.

"nnnnnNNNNNN!"

I slid under the crossed blades, jumped up, and pushed off of his shoulder.

Before long, my lightsaber was back in my hands.

Grievous turned around slowly, blindsided by my trickery...

There was something new in his mangy irises...

Curiosity.

It was unnerving.

After hesitating momentarily, I turned tail...

And ran.

Ahsoka

"Sshhhhkk!" "Shhhhhkkkk!" "Shhhhhhkkk!"

My dual sabers melted through battle droids like Barriss's knife through blue-milk pancakes.

Our position behind the downed shuttle had long since been compromised; we were out in the open now.

No doubt, it wouldn't have been possible to engage the army if Zevon hadn't steered Grievous away... not while protecting our wounded.

But my heart fluttered still, worried for Zevon.

As if on cue, his voice came crackling through my wrist communicator.

"Hello! Is... anyone there? ...Come in!" he requested, clearly out of breath.

"I'm here, Zevon." I answered, my concern growing deeper.

As I waited for his response, a commando droid attempted to surprise me.

Lightsaber Form V, Shien: Twin Fangs

"Shhhhhhkkk!" "Shhhhhhhkkkkk!" "Shhhhhk!"

"Ahsoka... I need you to go to the bridge." Zevon stated. "Take everyone with you if it's convenient."

"Why?" I inquired, kicking away the downed commando's disembodied limbs. "Where are you, Zevon? Is Grievous still nearby?!"

"On my signal..." he started, speaking as clearly as possible. "Close the blast doors, and deactivate the lightspeed shielding."

"I... answer the damn question!" I protested, confused and frantic. "And I don't know what that is!"

"It's a filter." Master Gallia muttered weakly from behind me.

Zevon

I ran.

I ran with Grievous in hot pursuit, barely evading his clutches.

I had to lure him deeper into the the depths of the star destroyer.

As we descended further into the cruiser's underbelly, the darkness thickened.

We bounded across overpasses, tore through cramped spaces where pipes clung to the walls like vines...

Gradually, we moved ever closer to the Venator's hyperdrive.

The lightspeed shielding, also referred to as the 'filter' of a hyperdrive, had one essential function.

It canceled out the residual electromagnetic interference a hyperdrive produced.

For a smaller craft, a filter like that wasn't necessary. However, for larger cruisers that used larger hyperdrives, it was essential to protect a cruiser from the destructive electromagnetic frequencies that a hyperdrive emitted.

The porous filter was a necessary layer of protection for capital ships.

For me, it was my secret weapon.

Ahsoka

The path to the bridge was long and arduous... I lost several more soldiers along the way.

Still, we made it, successfully transporting the injured as well.

I couldn't have done it without Echo and Fives. They were the real heroes.

"CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!"

Though we'd escaped the droid army temporarily, the pounding of their fists against the blast doors ensured that fear lingered within our hearts.

"Here, the filter." Master Gallia called over from a control panel.

Unexpectedly, she was upright again. The Anakin in me wanted to make light of that, but it wasn't the time.

As she'd stated, the switch to the Absolute's lightspeed shielding lay beneath her palm, guarded by a few extra fail-safes.

What was Zevon scheming?

"I'm going to go help him." I suddenly declared, resolute.

"You won't make it." Master Gallia stated as I stated up at a ventilation shaft. "What happens now is out of your control."

"I won't 'let him go.'" I asserted mockingly.

"And I'm not telling you to." Master Gallia clarified, shaking her head. "I'm telling you to trust him."

She paused.

"Grievous secures victory through a combination of scare tactics and brute force, thereafter exploiting a Jedi's physical weaknesses." she continued. "And, well... you know Zevon."

She paused again.

"Let's just say... the general's made a grievous error." she fininished, smirking slightly.

Zevon

I was still exhausted, and Grievous was close behind me.

Too close.

But there was a light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of the corridor, a pair of blast doors opened into the massive chamber that housed the Absolute's hyperdrive.

"Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!"

"Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!"

Not yet...

Not yet...

"Ahsoka... now!" I shouted into my communicator.

"Clunk!"

The blast doors snapped shut right after I flew through them, but not before my ghostly pursuer dove through at the last second.

"It almost worked, Jedi... but you've snared yourself in your own trap... with me." Grievous sneered, his hands fidgeting around his waist.

'Think again.' I smirked, thinking to myself. 'The trap hasn't been sprung yet.'

The activation, or rather the deactivation of the filter was silent... but a slight tingling sensation on my skin told me everything.

Now the trap was sprung.

With the filter offline, Grievous and I were instantly bombarded with the damaging frequencies.

"VVVVVVMMMMMMMMMM!"

The air itself vibrated, trembling, beating alongside my restless heart.

"RRrrrgh!" Grievous hacked, clutching his head as the pulses assaulted his mind.

His cybernetic body wasn't the only thing afflicted, though.

Our three lightsabers went haywire all at once, spitting sparks as they deformed and expanded erratically.

A lightsaber's magnetic field had one purpose: to contain the blade of plasma, to shape it.

With the ionization reactor's destructive interference, those fields were broken.

"nnnNNNNNN!"

Without warning, my blade of indigo wilted into a glowing whip, jerking upward and narrowly missing my cheek.

Grievous eyed each of his chaotic, unstable blades for a moment...

"Sssshhhhhhk!" "Ssshhhhkk!"

And then deactivated them.

"Sssshhhhhhk!"

I did the same.

Grievous

Static seeped into my neural pathways, scuttling through my skull like many tokin crabs.

It wasn't just the noise, either; the link that connected me to my troops had been severed.

And beyond even that, the rough electromagnetic waves were already eroding my cybernetics at the joints.

'Clever...!' I remarked internally, outwardly glaring at the hooded youngling.

If I still had a mouth, I might've cracked a battle-crazed grin.

The interference was like a foul flock of winged beasts razing my mind, but I didn't care anymore.

At this point, the fight was far too exciting to run from.

"Clack."

"Clack."

"Clack."

As I crept toward my opponent, raising my fists, I noticed that my traditional warrior's cloak was inhibiting my range of motion. The mantle's red, silky insides had been pinched by my bionic forearms.

In one fluid motion, I yanked the cloak from around my shoulders and tossed it aside.

Zevon

When Grievous raised his fists, I raised mine.

"Clack. Clack. Clack! Clack! Clack!"

He charged, lunging at me with a straight punch, but it was sloppy...

...

...No! It was a feint...!

"Clang!"

"Augh!"

I was careless. I managed to shield my head with my hands, blocking the real punch, but the impact still sent my brain spinning through my skull as I tumbled backwards.

The blunt force within his fist was so devastating, I blacked out for a second.

When I regained my senses, a crushing realization hit me.

'If he hits me even once, I could die.' I surmised, shuddering as fear overtook my body. 'All these years, HK-74's been going easy on me.'

Danger!

Through the fog of head trauma, I detected another punch headed my way.

"CLANG!"

The cyborg's iron fist flew past my head, punching a crater into the corridor wall.

"Try it again... use the force!" Grievous taunted, whiffing a right hook as I ducked under his arm. "Only... you can't, can you?"

Without warning, his fist unfurled, and I only caught the glint of his claws as they slashed at my face.

I did my best to evade, but the stinging sensation in my cheek that followed proved that the hunter's talons had left their mark.

My heart spasmed, quivering as my fear intensified further.

Next, Grievous kicked at me with his clawed foot, and as I dive-rolled I sensed my heart still pounding within my chest.

I needed to calm... down...

"Clack. Clack. Clack! Clack! Clack!"

As Grievous charged me again, I strengthened my stance, anchoring myself into the floor.

'Trust your training...' I mouthed, stabilizing my breaths. 'And let instinct take over.'

His fist of ruin rocketed toward my chest, but I weaved around it.

"Clink!"

And jabbed at his torso.

"Clink!"

Another jab.

"Clink! Clink!"

A double jab...

"CLANG!"

And CROSS!

"Aaahhh!" Grievous roared as I smashed his chest with a clean straight punch.

The impact dislodged a pair of blasters from his belt, and they clattered to the ground.

Grievous

The Jedi runt was quite talented with his fists.

No... this boy, he was no ordinary Jedi.

There was no grace within his punches, no supernatural accuracy.

He was berserk, primal...

Like me, he was a warrior... born of the jungle.

Ahsoka

"You know form IV, The Aggression Form. You know form III, The Resilience Form." Master Gallia droned on. "You likely even know form II, The Contention Form... but what do you know about form I?"

"It's Shii-cho." I answered simply, the sinkhole in my stomach still expanding.

"But what other name is it known by?" the master questioned.

"Never got around to figuring that out." I admitted, my eyes darting around the bridge.

"It's called The Determination Form." Master Gallia revealed, speaking in a hushed whisper. "Fitting for a certain someone."

Zevon

"CLANG!"

Sparks flew from the cyborg's joints, stressed from the downpour of destructive waves...

"CLANG!"

Sparks flew from my gauntlets as they grazed Grievous's body...

"CLANG!" "CLANG!"

And metal scraped and crashed together, over and over...

I punched, I kicked, I even grabbed and threw once.

It took everything I had to not die to what Grievous threw back at me.

He persisted in pushing me down the elongated, suspended platform, but I was stubborn.

"CLANG!"

Slowly, he was wearing down. It was obvious.

He became slower, less accurate... and more desperate.

The more he fought, the more his eyes became that of a caged animal, franticly trying to escape.

His fist came down again, and I spun to the side, narrowly avoiding a fatal fall below.

'Jump...' I commanded myself robotically, skyrocketing upward.

And...

'Uppercut.' I stated internally.

"BANG!"

"Aaaarrrghhh!"

'Target hit.' I thought smugly.

And then I spotted it...

First it was the flash of the droid general's yellow eyes.

And then the glint of his claws.

"RRRIIIIIIIIIPPPPP!"

"AIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" I shrieked.

Before I could touch down to the ground, Grievous gifted me a permanent scar.

A nasty laceration that stretched from my leftmost abdominal to the right side of my waist.

The cut was deep, a red chasm that quickly started shedding my mortality.

I lay at the start of a hallway, suffering by myself for what felt like eons.

"It hurt... it hurts... it hurts... it hurts... it hurts... it hurts..." I rambled over and over, wishing that the pain would stop.

Grievous must have left just after wounding me, otherwise I would've be dead by now.

A quick glance around me proved that.

...

I was losing blood fast, the hot fluid flowing from the gash like liquid metal.

...I couldn't fight anymore... and even if I could have, there wasn't any point.

Grievous would be long gone by now.

All that preparation, and for what? If only I hadn't been so IGNORANT... I wouldn't have led with such a piss-poor strategy.

Did the initial triumph of forging my lightsaber go to my head? Did I really think that finally holding a weapon of my own creation would somehow give me the power to defeat General Grievous?

My dueling ability was still below-average, and my force-connection was as flimsy as it had always been... wielding a uniquely-colored blade of plasma changed nothing.

Delusion... just as much of a fantasy as my dreams of ascending to knighthood.

As I kept the pressure on my wound - holding a dam to rivers of blood - I leaned back and peered up at the ceiling.

'I failed...' I concluded, my arms falling to my sides.

No matter what I tried... my efforts always ended at the same result.

'HA!!' the Son snickered from my shoulder. 'So you finally understand... hahahaHAHAHAHA!'

...

Out of nowhere, a collection of other voices swelled up, overpowering the Son's cackles.

'Keep those feelings close to your heart. They're proof... they're proof that you aren't ready... to give up on yourself just yet.'

'Eventually, all material reaches its shatterpoint: it's forced to adapt, or fracture. I think living beings are similar.'

'Keep trying, and learn through failure. And, in the end, if you can do nothing but fail... then do it well.'

I gritted my teeth.

'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!' the Son persisted.

Maybe it was the adrenaline that abruptly rushed through my veins... maybe it the voices of my friends and mentors... or maybe it was my utter contempt for the Son's venomous taunts...

But I started crawling, clawing my way down the hallway with a single arm.

I left a trail of droplets of blood in my wake.

Gradually, as I dragged myself farther from the colossal hyperdrive, the air's humming diminished.

Finally, I clambered through the mangled blast doors, all but escaping the electromagnetic interference.

After flipping on my back, I ripped my saber from my belt.

There was only one thing to do.

"Psssshhhew!"

Left with no other choice, I ignited the blade...

"Sssssssssssssssssss!"

And touched the tip to my wound.

"SSSSSSSSSSSSS!"

Pain...!

PAIN...!

'PAIN!' the crystal shrieked.

Blinding, white-hot pain that smeared my sight red.

"SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"

Blood boiled, flesh hissed, skin fused together...

"AAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHH!" I cried out, tears spilling down my cheeks.

'AGH! PAIN!' the kyber wailed with me.

As I dragged the indigo plasma across my torso - welding the laceration shut - the agony brought me closer to the otherworld...

'DIE!'

'AGH!'

Voices, screams...

'CRRRRRUNCH!'

Bone shattered...

'AIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!'

A young boy screamed...

'HAHAHA!'

And his assailant hacked out a fiendish laugh.

"SSSSSSS...!"

Upon fully cauterizing the grievous wound, I leapt to my feet...

"Tap. Tap. Tap! Tap! Tap!"

And took off.

Grievous

"Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!"

I sprinted, carving my way through the industrial undergrowth at a breakneck pace.

My arms and legs swiveled back and forth, carrying me through the hallways...

The crevices between my limbs groaned, spitting out clusters of sparks with each long stride.

My joints were far too strained to continue the bout... much to my dismay...

But my cybernetics had sustained too much damage for me to ignore. In fact, I absolutely should have withdrawn earlier...

I scowled at myself.

"Sir, there you are!" a B1 commander exclaimed, not too far ahead of me.

"Coming through!" I roared, coughing into a hand as I barreled past the timid droid.

Zevon

"Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!"

I bolted through the metal labyrinth, aiming myself in the general direction of where the cyborg's ship was docked.

Having been butchered and burned, my abdominal muscles furiously protested against my rapid pace. I ignored their outcry.

As I whipped around a corner, I immediately caught sight of a B1 battle droid.

"Uhhhh... surrender, Jedi!" it ordered, its blaster shaking nervously.

"Tap! Tap! TAP! TAP! TAPTAPTAPTAPTAP!"

"Stop! You're under arrest!" the goon's companion yelled as I accelerated.

"Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!"

They fired their weapons in unison, but I was already on the wall...

Then the ceiling...

Then the other wall...

And then I was long gone.

"Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!"

"Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!"

Far sooner than I'd expected... I heard the droid general's footfalls echoing alongside my own.

...There was still a chance!

After ricocheting around a corner, I locked onto the fleeing cyborg's back.

"Tap! Tap! TAP! TAP! TAPTAPTAPTAPTAP!"

He must have heard me approaching, because the Jedi killer's head suddenly flipped around.

...The initial shock in his eyes was soon dwarfed by fury.

"Psssshhhew!" "Sshkk!"

Green light flashed, and a corridor side panel burst open, belching out a white smokescreen that spread out through the hallway, shrouding the droid general's position.

"TAPTAPTAPTAPTAP!"

I bounded toward the steam cloud without hesitation, and had almost gone into the mist when....

Danger!

"Tap........!"

I froze in my tracks, going more still than petrified stone in an instant.

"CLANG!"

Out of nowhere, Grievous fell out of the fog, his clawed feet violently denting the section of floor I'd been about to tread on.

"Insolent Jedi!" the cyborg sputtered, his ambush foiled.

Grievous

He was too fast...! I needed to escape, NOW!

...When I turned the corner, I found myself face to face with a dead end.

Cornered...!

The boy had cornered me...!

I was trapped, damaged, and out of options.

Except... I wasn't.

The warrior within me was beaten, but Grievous wasn't.

"Clack."

"Clack."

"Clack."

I lurked toward the young warrior, slowly.

'You... you gave up your honor a long time ago.' I reminded myself, splitting my arms in two.

"Psssshhhew!" "Pssshhhhew!"

With two additional lightsabers lit, one in each hand, I willed my hands to spin.

Soon, the lightsabers were a fourfold whirling frenzy.

"nnnnnnnNNNNNNNNnnnNNNNNNNNNnnnnnNNNNNNN!"

"nnnnnnnNNNNNNNNnnnNNNNNNNNNnnnnnNNNNNNN!"

"nnnnnnnNNNNNNNNnnnNNNNNNNNNnnnnnNNNNNNN!"

"nnnnnnnNNNNNNNNnnnNNNNNNNNNnnnnnNNNNNNN!"

Zevon

Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger!

My natural instincts told me to run, but my battle instincts told me otherwise.

Grievous was vulnerable... the sparks dripping from his joints proved that much.

I just had to let him wear himself down.

Lightsaber Form III, Soresu: Glacial Flow

I mimicked Master Kenobi's signature stance, holding my saber over my head and pointing it in front of me.

"KSSSSHHHHHH!"

"KSSSSSSHHHHHH!"

Each spinning saber was a destructive disk of its own... but with Soresu, I was able to dissipate their absolute power.

"KSSSSSHHHHH!"

As I redirected the wheels of light, my core tensed up, and the pain returned with a vengeance.

The pain, the physical exhaustion, and the mental strain... they all weighed me down.

But Grievous was also at his limit.

It was only a question of who would break first.

"KSSSSHH!"

Man, or machine...

"KSSSHHHHH!"

Flesh, or circuitry...

"KSSSSSSHHH!"

Muscle, or metal...

"KSSSHHHHHHHH!"

"KSSSSHHHHHH!"

The sparks were increasing in number, but I was giving ground fast. I required backward movement to execute form III.

"KSSSSHH!"

If Grievous pushed me out into the open hallway...

"KSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH!"

In the blink of an eye, a powerful strike caught me off guard, and I slid back a few meters.

No more space to work with...!

No room for error...!

In my desperation, I fell back on the one form I could always count on...

Lightsaber Form I, Shii-Cho: Immovable Rock

And moved to clash with Grievous directly.

"KSSSSHHHHHH!" "KSSSSSHHHHHH!" "KSSSSSHHHHHHH!" "KSSSSHHHHHH!"

Over and over, my strength collided with his own.

"KSSSSHHHHHHH!" "KSSSHHHHH!" "KSSSSSHHHHHHH!" "KSSSHHHHHHHHH!"

I kept swinging and swinging, with every bit of stamina I had left...

"KSSSSHHHHHHH!" "KSSSSHHHHHH!" "KSSSSSHHHHHH!" "KSSSSSHHHHHHH!"

My two-handed grip clashing with all four of his limbs...

"KSSSSHHHHHH!" "KSSSSHHHHHHH!" "KSSSHHHHHHHHH!" "KSSSSSHHHHHHH!"

"ZZZZZZZZZHHHHHHHHHHH!"

All of a sudden, one of his elbows blew out.

"ZZZZZZZZZHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Then one of his shoulders...

"ZZZZZZZZZHHHHHHHHHH!" "ZZZZZZZZZHH!" "ZZZZZZZZZZHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"ZZZZZZZZZHHHHHHHHHHH!""ZZZZZZZZZHHHHHHHHHHH!""ZZZZZZZZZHHHHHHHHHH!"

And then everything else.

"CLANG!"

In one fluid motion, the indomitable General Grievous crumpled to the ground as his circuits gave out on him.

"Huff... huff... huff... huff..........." I gasped, so winded that it added to my disbelief.

Regardless, I approached fallen general with caution...

"nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn."

And pointed my saber at his chest as I stared into his eyes.

He stared back, but not with the usual untamed hatred.

There was only a hollow acceptance in his sunken, yellow eyes.

"Listen to me if you want to live." I commanded seriously.

Ahsoka

"CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!"

'Any minute now...' I thought to myself, filled with dread.

A brief survey around the room injected even more panic into my chest.

Burst was halfway between the living and the departed, and Master Gallia had certainly seen better days.

If it came down to it, I would have to fight them off... if I could even do that. Fives and Echo could provide some decent backup, but I couldn't expect much from anyone else.

"CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!"
"CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!" "CLANG!"

The droid general's iron grip was suffocating.

My grip on my twin lightsabers tightened.

"............................................................................."

Silence.

Unexpected silence.

With the banging of metal fists gone, my restless heartbeat filled the void.

Over a few minutes of waiting, my uneasiness eventually transitioned to curiosity.

"Burst, can you pull up the live feed?" I requested cautiously.

The view we subsequently laid eyes on was bizarre.

Inexplicably, every single battle droid that stood outside had gone still.

It was like an art show, as if every droid had been sculpted from scrap and put on display.

'It's a trap.' I determined silently, refusing to take the bait.

Yet, as more and more minutes ticked by, my certainty dwindled.

"Commander, you don't think we should check..." Fives began.

"Fine. Lower the barricade, but close it immediately if anything goes wrong." I decided before he could finish.

"Pssshhhew!" "Pssshhhew!"

As soon as the doors opened, I bared my fangs...

"Shhhhhhhk!" "Shhhhhhk!" "Shhhhhhk! "Shhhkkkk!" "Shhhhk!" "Sssshhhhhk!"

And mercilessly brutalized every B1 and B2 in sight.

After about half a hundred beheadings, my doubts were finally quelled.

My rampage ended beside a window to the vast galaxy.

"Zevon, did you really...?" I asked the stars, hopeful.

Zevon

As I stumbled away, clutching my scarred abdomen, Grievous suddenly spoke.

"What..." he coughed, his raspy voice growing distant. "What was your name?"

I stopped.

"Zevon Boltreaver." I answered.

He fell silent, and I resumed my limp.

...

"Qymaen jai Sheelal." Grievous uttered, barely a whisper.

"That's yours?" I questioned, pausing again.

"It... was..." he confirmed with a slight cough.

Ahsoka

After I declared the corridors safe, we started searching.

The battle droids, frozen in time, were littered throughout all stretches of the Venator.

Though no longer hostile, they were ominous regardless.

"Shhhhhhk!" "Shhhhhhk!"

Needless to say, I dispatched the ones I saw for good measure.

As our party shuffled through a particularly empty corridor, dangerously close to where the separatist capital ship was docked, we found the unexpected.

Well, it would have been unexpected a few hours earlier.

Grievous, collapsed against a wall.

Damaged, multiple sections of circuitry exposed to open air.

Defeated.

And beside him, a few meters away...

"Zevon!!!" I exclaimed, flinching as I saw the gash drawn across his stomach.

My intrusive thoughts were silenced when I saw his chest rise.

He was still alive.

Zevon

When Neyo moved to cuff General Grievous, the most elusive commander of the CIS, Grievous didn't struggle.

In fact, he didn't even speak.

After our duel, and our last exchange, I was only more intrigued.

But soon, he was gone, hoisted away by a pair of troopers.

"Rise, Zevon, and do so with pride." Master Gallia urged, her arms crossed. "For today... you've accomplished that which no other has."

Reluctantly, I stood up, my legs wobbling from overexertion.

Ahsoka approached me slowly, and we locked eyes.

"You did it!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around me. "You did it..."

"...I did, didn't I?" I mumbled, overwhelmed.

"Good job, kid." Burst mumbled, exhausted.

I did do it, and yet... it didn't seem real.

...Gradually, the reality of my victory welled up inside me.

A wave of triumph surged throughout my body, and a grin forced itself onto my face.

At that moment, I had only one thought...

That today would forever be known as the day I won.