Grievous paced on board the bridge of the Invisible Hand. He had to do something about Ventress. It was almost time for the Battle of Kamino to begin. Or, well, it would have been, had he not killed Dooku and decided to delay that in favor of ousting the Huk from his home planet.

So Ventress would likely show up soon, expecting to prepare for the battle. What should he do?

One thing was certain-he wasn't going to allow her to live. After all, she was a Sith, as she had always liked to remind him. The only question that remained for him was whether he should battle her directly or destroy her ship before she boarded.

I know I can defeat her in direct combat, he thought. Still, he did not like the idea of willingly allowing another Sith to step foot on his battleship, no matter how temporary that arrangement might be. But despite the far superior firepower of the Invisible Hand, he was doubtful of its ability to definitively overpower any Force-user. They were too agile, too maneuverable. Still, that very fact might breed complacency in his opponent. Yes, it was possible he could take her out that way, especially if he tried a few-unusual tactics.

Movement outside the transparisteel viewport caught the cyborg's attention, and he saw a familiar ship.

The time for planning had ended. It was time to act.

Ventress dropped out of hyperspace and guided her fighter towards the Invisible Hand. She hailed the enormous Providence-class Dreadnaught before her.

The Invisible Hand responded to her communication almost immediately. But the voice she heard wasn't the one she had expected.

"Ventress," Grievous said. "I was just thinking about you."

"Really," the Sith assassin replied, frowning.

A barrage of laser fire assaulted her ship. Only her unnaturally fast reflexes kept her from being incinerated as she tilted her ship to the right, allowing the solar sail to take the brunt of the blow.

"Yes," Grievous said. "Thinking about how to kill you."

"What are you doing?!"

"I should think that would be obvious. Pity I won't be able to collect your lightsabers. But being a head of state is a lot of work."

"What are you going on about?" Ventress snapped.

"Oh, you didn't hear? Dooku died. And it occurred to me, that I don't really need a Sith assassin. So, think of this as-your retirement package."

"You're going to regret this!"

"Really?" Grievous asked, his tone amused.

"Arrgghh," Ventress growled. "I'm going to mount your ugly face on my wall!"

"Good luck with that," Grievous responded, laughing. Ventress cut the communication as she steered her ship into an evasive roll. She'd heard all she cared to from the treacherous cyborg. Whatever was going on, she didn't plan to let that bottom-feeder take her out. As she maneuvered her ship away from laser fire and a stream of Vultures, she began weaving towards her target-the bridge of the Invisible Hand.

Two blasts from either side of her grazed the edges of her ship, but a quick turn had minimized the damage. Ventress glanced in the directions of the attacks. Hyena bombers.

Then several round-shaped droid fighters attacked her ship. Ventress dipped her ship below the blasts. Then she snarled and fired at her attackers. She hadn't seen these before, but she'd heard something about a newer class of droid called tri-fighters.

She dodged an incoming volley of tiny ball-shaped droids that had been released by the tri-fighters.

Grievous really went all-out with this. Still, he severely underestimates my abilities, as he always has.

As she got closer to the massive ship, a figure resolved itself from behind the viewports. Grievous, standing with his hands behind his back, watching her ship from inside the enormous dreadnaught.

Ventress grinned. Why don't you just paint a target on yourself, fool? She concentrated her laser fire on the cyborg general's position, and was satisfied to see his eyes widen as he lunged away from the lasers piercing the transparisteel viewport.

Well, that was fun. Time to go, though. Ventress knew she didn't have the strategic advantage, and she doubted her attack had actually killed the cyborg. Might need a bomb for that. A nuclear bomb. Which I do not currently have.

She entered in the hyperspace coordinates and the ship prepared for the jump. Dodging a few more lasers and battle droids, she weaved along the length of the Invisible Hand until the threats faded away with the blue lines of hyperspace.

When she exited the jump, she was in a tranquil, abandoned part of space. She tapped the console of her communications panel. There wasn't an immediate response. But Ventress waited patiently. Eventually, her patience was rewarded. The image of Sidious appeared.

He frowned disapprovingly. "I don't recall giving you my number."

"You didn't. But I have my sources," Ventress said. Like hacking into Dooku's communication lines. She liked the vague wording of 'sources', however. Made it sound more mysterious, like she might have spies or something.

"I see. So, why have you contacted me?"

"Grievous attacked me! For no reason at all!"

"Yes," Sidious said. "It seems he's-gone rogue."

"Also he claimed that Count Dooku is dead. Is it true?"

"That is true," Sidious said. "Apparently by the General's own hand. Or so he claimed to me."

"The traitor!" Ventress hissed. She took a deep breath. "I am prepared to take up the Count's mantle and-"

Sidious held up a hand. "Do not presume. The master chooses the apprentice, Ventress. Not the other way around."

"Oh. So you have found someone to replace him already?"

Sidious scowled. "A master may take his time in choosing a new apprentice, should his old one fail him."

"If you wish to find a new apprentice, you should have someone to challenge them with. Like me. I understand that you are a very busy Sith Master-surely you don't have the time to test all those who aspire to be Sith yourself right now. And, if it just so happens that I kill a few, or all of them, in the process-"

"Very well," Sidious said, holding up a hand. "I will give you a chance, Ventress. Meet me on Coruscant. I will send you the time and location now. Don't be late."

"I won't be," Ventress said, smiling. "And I promise, I won't disappoint."