Song: "He's Here For Us" from Rogue One OST

Tovarskl's hazy gray atmosphere was the perfect hiding place for Yam'rii forces. Khetsuu had to commend them for that when his ship touched down on the small surface of the gas giant.

The atmosphere weighed heavily on his scales, and his breathing was labored and raspy. The fact that Bent, a brilliant tactician, had needed assistance told Khetsuu that this was a serious problem. He could almost feel the evil here, hissing like a serpent when it sinks its fangs into its victims.

He pressed his com. "Sk'ar. I'm here."

He was ripped off the ground and abruptly found himself staring at the blue-violet eyes of his old friend, hidden behind a facial veil. A great laugh coaxed its way out. "Sheelal! Reporting."

He ignored the nausea at the name Sheelal. "You needed assistance?"

"We can't see squat in this fog," his friend said, a frown in his voice. "I was hoping if you could find a way."

"It's hopelessly thick," Khetsuu admitted. "Can the Yam'rii see any better than us?"

A shrug. "Doubt it, but that won't stop 'em."

Khetsuu longed to talk all day to his brother-in-arms. To tell him that he was a father and that Shia was ill and that he was no longer Sheelal but Grievous, eternally Grievous, and ask about his recent contact with his wife. But they had a duty to do, so he pushed all these questions aside and made a mental note to ask about it once all of this was over....once they'd conquered Tovarskl.

"It's strange," Khetsuu said in a murmur, stretching out his hand. "This planet has nothing. Why would the Yam'rii want to colonize it?"

Bent's mouth lilted ruefully. "Got some good places for a military base, which is why we haven't taken it yet."

"Any reads on the terrain?"

Bent shook his head. The men could not see past a meter in front of them. All around, violet fog flowered the atmosphere, trapping them. This planet was a wasteland, a barren terrain, and the Yam'rii wanted it anyway.

Sounds like how they were when they invaded Kalee.

"Should we wait for them to find us?" Bent asked.

"Poor idea." He frowned. "Send another scout out-well-armed. Get a reading on how big this planet actually is."

"And then we wait?"

He shivered as the violet fog ebbed to hazy black. Perhaps night was falling on this world. He inhaled. "Yes, my friend."

✺✺✺

As they rallied the kolkpravis and prepared to slug the door open, Khetsuu spoke to his friend. "Why didn't you check for underground bases beforehand?"

Bent sighed. "Didn't think of it. They're getting smarter. I fear they're getting help."

"That's exactly what Tikhél and I were thinking."

"Zogsukh!" Bent ordered the kolkpravis sternly. "Halt."

The kolkpravis obeyed his command. The silence was palpable enough that Khetsuu heard the whispers of the fleshy atmosphere. But amidst that noise came a chilling click-click-click from below. The sound that had haunted him from the day he was born.

He pulled out his slugthrower, loading it. "Snipers," he said. "On my mark."

The soldiers loaded their rifles. The sound made a loud snap-pop in the cool air of Tovarskl.

"Be prepared," Bent added as they aimed at a particularly thin spot. "This is most likely a hive. Who knows how long they've been camping out here?"

He has a point there, Khetsuu thought.

"Gurvan...." he began counting down. "Khoyor...."

The clicking sounds grew louder.

"Neg!"

Every slugthrower rifle cracked in the crisp air, firing rocks surrounded by beams of energy at a single point in the ground. The dry rock crumbled and gave way beneath thousands of slugs, opening the hollow mouth of horrors that awaited them below.

A sickening vein of ebony black against gold soil sprouted at his feet, and he realized his mistake. "Fall back!" he shouted. "Fall back now!"

✺✺✺

It was a mistake Ronderu or Bent would have made. It was a simple error, a minor deter to their progress. But Khetsuu would never forgive himself for what happened at the siege of Tovarskl.

Hazy blurs passed through his mind. He had trouble recalling it after the fact-his voice rasping through the dust for his soldiers to fall back; his nails peeling as the earth rumbled and threatened to pull him into the Yam'rii hive; his fingers bleeding, scratched, and bruised; Bent pulling him upward.

The sound of a thousand slugthrowers worked desperately to save their khagan. His mind was flurry of panic and adrenaline; his body drenched itself in sweat.

I swear to the gods, I will burn them all alive, he remembered his lips mumbling. I will.

CRACK!

Screams from the impact tore at his throat. His vision exploded in color, the pain blossoming like the flowers on Kalee, and faded to black.

✺✺✺

He awoke in the medical frigate of his freighter, his head soaring with tortured sensations, his eyes wracked with visions. Black spots swam in his vision, and his face was wet with tears.

The siege of Tovarskl could have been a dream, like those that swirled in his mind. Dreams had punctured his mind-of a female Kaleesh, unmistakably Ronderu, with....

A Jedi.

A human Jedi.

Something from her past, perhaps, for she had no future. But the idea of her being anywhere near a boy from the filthy Republic spiked burning in his veins.

Tikhél walked into the bay, sitting next to him. She gave a sad smile, gathered his battered body into her arms, and kissed him on the jaw. Normally, he'd have allowed himself to break down into tears, but he was no longer Ronderu's softened dreamer.

"You lost," Tikhél said, pressing her cool hand to his forehead. "But that's not the only problem."

"What?" he growled, his voice twisted into something almost animalistic. The dream where he'd been given a vocabulator instead of a voice box came to mind, but he pressed it aside. "Is Shia in danger? Is she alright?"

Tikhél pressed her fingers to his lips to silence him. His skin itched, inflamed with fever, and he wanted to claw his own scales off. But her cool voice shone through his sorrows. "Shia is fine. She has been for a time."

"How long has it been?"

"Three standard weeks," she said. "Qymaen...." she took a shuddering breath. "Coruscant demands to see you there. They threatened us with force if you refused."

"Why would Coruscant want to see me?" he asked, though the horrible truth began to dawn upon him.

"It appears that we were right. The Trade Federation has connections with the Huk system. They have accused the Kalee system of offensive warmongering, and their punishments will be deadly if confirmed."

And to Khetsuu's surprise, another woman entered the room-Queru, Shia's midwife. She nodded to Tikhél, then came and embraced him as well. He wept silently against her shoulder with gratitude. "Thank you....for all you did...."

"I want to marry you," she blurted out, and he was ridden with shock.

"Why?" he croaked, leaning back and wiping his eyes. His head pounded again. "What do you see in me?"

She laughed gently. "Hero of the Huk War? Tamer of Ronderu lij Kummar?" He was tempted to laugh-Ronderu could be tamed by no one-but she went on. "Someone I want to take care of? Any of that ringing a bell?"

"That was a dramatic proposal," Tikhél remarked dryly from across the room, though there was a playful glint in her eyes.

And all he could think about now was how he was indebted to her for saving Shia's life. He would repay her for all of that. "I....I'm flattered. Yes." A small blush came to his cheek.

"Perhaps we could marry on Coruscant," she said. "If you're planning on going to confront the Senate, of course."

"Why wouldn't I?" he said with a renewed scowl. "How long did they give me to show up?"

"A week."

A week. He didn't know what was wrong with his head, but whatever it was, a week was not enough time.

"Very well," he said. "Where are we?"

"On our way back home," Queru said. "They've asked for Kaleesh forces to evacuate the planet. Saikhan's going to be mad when we get back."

"And you just listened to them?"

"You did leave me in charge," Tikhél pointed out from across the room.

He rolled his eyes, feeling bleak and empty now. All my progress, even if Kalee is vindicated....will be for nothing. Those soulless bugs will intrude again, and I'll never escape war.

Gods, I'm so sick of this senseless conflict.

◈◈◈

Did you know....

● This marks the first proper tussle that Grievous has with the Republic - that they called him to account at Coruscant rather than the Yam'rii.

● A year has passed since the Battle of Jenuwaa. Qymaen is now 26.

Tell me what you think....

● How will the situation turn out? (Most of my readers haven't read Unknown Soldier, so I can ask this question. 😉)

● What do you make of his dreams?