Halari eyed him warily. "Why do you contact me using the name of one of our greatest fallen warriors, offworlder?"

"I did not die, young Sk'ar," he said. "But I was forced into service by offworlders and prevented from returning to Kalee. They rebuilt me from near-death, so I may look quite different, but under all of this, I am still the Grievous you knew."

"I-see," Halari said, the expression in his eyes still skeptical. "Then you should really be talking to my father instead of me."

"Bentilais is alive?"

"Yes," the other Kaleesh confirmed.

"I must speak with him!"

"He is not here right now. But I will let him know you contacted me," Halari said. He looked thoughtful. "You do not look or sound like the Grievous I knew. I think somehow you are Kaleesh. Your eyes are Kaleesh, your mask of Kaleesh design, but there are many among us who seek to don the name of our fabled hero. I have met a few of these pretenders myself. If it is really you, Grievous, then you will know what my favorite pastime was as a child."

Grievous laughed. "An interesting test. You liked to look in your telescope, and record the movements of the stars."

"You truly are Grievous, then," Halari said, his voice incredulous. "I never imagined you'd survived."

"Those stars are all full of trouble, by the way," Grievous said.

Halari laughed. "I don't doubt it."

"I see you've grown even taller than me." Grievous said to the life-size holo of the young Kaleesh adult.

"I took sustenance from all those teasings about my height," Halari said. "And now I have my revenge."

Grievous laughed. "That you have, that you have." His mood became somber. "How goes the war?"

"My father still fights, but must do so quietly. He must skulk in the shadows while the Huk boldly take Kaleesh slaves and hide behind the might of the Galactic Republic."

Grievous growled. "They must not be allowed to continue that. I will soon arrive at Kalee. I have the resources to bring the Huk to their knees."

"But what of the Republic?" His voice dropped to a whisper. "The Jedi?"

Grievous unclipped a lightsaber from his belt and ignited its blue blade. "They have already learned to fear me. I have collected the blades of many who dared challenge me to battle. I will relish having new trophies."

Halari's eyes widened. "Then-you can defeat anyone!"

Grievous laughed. "Not quite. But I will be more than a match for the Huk and I will make the Republic flee once it sees the advantage the Huk can give them is not greater than the pain I will offer them." He knew exactly what the Republic stood to gain by aiding the Huk. And while those hyperspace routes were of great tactical use, once they were firmly in the hands of the Separatists, that fact would be of no import. The Huk would have nothing more of worth to beg their aid with, and the Republic would withdraw.

When Grievous finished his conversation with Halari, he had already begun to plan out the battle.

Grievous hesitated, his hand over the communications panel. He had to make this call, as much as he wished he could avoid it. Finally, he pressed a series of buttons, and San Hill was contacted. The Muun answered the call immediately.

"Grievous," he said calmly, his expression neutral. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yes," Grievous said, his eyes narrowing. "I need to know why I still cannot control my anger."

"You can," Hill said. "And I do think there has been some noticeable improvement in that area since your surgery. But your mind undoubtedly formed certain habits while under Dooku's control." He shrugged dismissively. "You will have to train it out of those. Anyway, podiums are at least not as expensive as droids."

So, I am still not entirely free of the results of Dooku's meddling, then.

"Speaking of droids, I wanted to ask about my medical droid," Grievous said.

San laughed. "Ah, yes, that. Dooku had a rather perverse sense of humor. Given your droid was programmed to keep you under the Sith's control, I've deactivated it and supplied you with a new medical droid of a more standard-"

"Can you instead reprogram EV-A4-D not to answer to the Sith?"

Hill gave him a skeptical look. "Yes, but-are you saying you prefer that one? The personality routine was intentionally designed to be abrasive and-"

"Yes," Grievous said. "I would prefer my usual medical droid."

"Then I'll have his primary co-routines reprogrammed immediately," San said.

"Good. Don't alter his memories or personality, though."

"If you insist, General."

"I do," Grievous said. "Also, I-"

Grievous felt awareness returning now. He was suspended, floating. A feeling of peace. The shapes and outlines he saw were not the trees or sky of his home, however. And directly in front of him stood a blurry but clearly identifiable outline of a thin and pale alien.

"Ah, you're awake!" the figure clasped his hands in front of himself. The voice, too, even with its strange echo and muffling, confirmed Grievous' suspicions.

"Am I dead?" Grievous asked, not sure what to make of the presence of this unpleasant and all-too-familiar apparition. Was this a punishment? What had he done to deserve this?

Mr. Hill laughed. "No, of course not! Though that was a very near thing."

"My-Izvoshra. Are they-?"

"Dead, I'm afraid. All of them," Mr. Hill said.

Grievous felt despair. "I need to return-to-Kalee."

"You are in no condition to be going anywhere at the moment," Mr. Hill said. "However, I do have a proposition for you."

"Please, no more," Grievous said. "There is only one thing I wish to ask of you."

"And what is that?" The banker asked.

"Get out of my afterlife, Mr. Hill."

Grievous blinked. The hologram of San Hill was reading a datapad now.

"Mr. Hill," Grievous said, his eyes narrowing.

"Hmmm, what?" The Muun turned to face him. "You were just standing there, staring off into space, so I thought I'd amuse myself."

"Let us finish this conversation. There is one other matter-"

"It was the memory backlash again, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Grievous said, annoyed at being interrupted. "A particularly unpleasant memory at that."

"Oh, that's good."

Grievous growled. "And why is that?"

"Well, it means your bad memories haven't been repressed. With the memory backlash, they would have to surface at some point anyway, but if allowed to be repressed for too long, they might eventually resurface all at once."

"I'm glad we discussed this wonderful possible side effect."

"I didn't see the point. Why should you worry about it? The possibility was unavoidable. Oh, unless you'd rather I not removed Dooku's little mind control chips?"

"Never mind," Grievous said. "There is one other thing. My other request-"

"The ships and battle droids you requested? Already done. They await you above your fortress on Vassek."

"Good," Grievous said. "I will soon have use for them."