Grievous could feel his emotions in turmoil. Fear, seething hatred, even excitement over the coming battle. Grievous examined the five lightsabers at his waist. He had many trophies from successful battles with the Jedi. More than he could count. One of the lightsabers was Kenobi's. The other four he had chosen to use in this battle were simply his favorites.

Of course, if I win, I shall obtain my greatest trophy yet. Dooku's lightsaber would indeed be a prize. If he could manage to kill the wily Sith Lord, that was. He looked over at the Jedi Master who stood hunched at his side. Kenobi didn't look like much now, especially as covered in cuts and bruises as he was. But Grievous knew that looks could be deceiving when it came to the Jedi.

As they traversed the final hallway to the ship's bridge, Grievous mentally prepared himself for the battle ahead.

Grievous keyed in the code on the control panel and the door opened. Dooku was standing on the bridge, staring out the transparisteel window at the planet below them. He turned as soon as the door opened.

"I've something to show you, my lord," Grievous said.

"General!" Dooku said, addressing Grievous, though his gaze was locked on Kenobi. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"I thought you would want to see the death of the great Kenobi," Grievous said.

"It was foolhardy of you to bring him here, General," Dooku said, his lightsaber now held in front of him.

Grievous pulled a lightsaber blade from his cloak and ignited it. "Hardly. I will end him here and now!" He kicked Kenobi to his knees in front of him, apparently to deal the finishing blow, but in actuality to give the Jedi a better position in which to Force-grab his lightsaber.

At that moment, the room went dark, and the droids powered themselves down, just as he had arranged. He roared angrily, feigning surprise when the Jedi pulled his lightsaber from his cape. The moment the Jedi grasped the lightsaber in his bound hands, he deftly re-ignited it and cut through the bindings. In an instant, Grievous had four lightsabers in hand and was clashing with Kenobi.

"I will bring you down!" Grievous said.

"You fool," Dooku hissed at the General. "Look around you," he gestured to the silent droids bathed in red emergency lighting. "This was planned. He's not alone."

"Impossible!" Grievous said, not having to hold back against the Jedi as he pitted his full force against him, driving him closer to Dooku. Kenobi effortlessly blocked his strikes.

"Stand down, General," Dooku ordered. "Let me handle our guest."

"I'll kill him! I'll kill them all!"

"I said, stand down," Dooku growled, Force-grabbing Kenobi and pushing him to the ground away from Grievous and placing a Force wall in front of Grievous. Trying to walk through it was like trying to walk through solid durasteel.

"The Jedi is mine now, General. Do not interfere."

"Yes, my lord," Grievous said resentfully. Already things were not going according to plan. Of course, he had thought through a number of scenarios, but he hadn't expected Dooku to react like this. He stood and watched as the two duelists clashed, battling one another across the bridge. Grievous stood still as the Count had commanded, holding his lightsabers at the ready. He didn't want to reveal to Dooku his true intentions until it would be too late for the Sith Lord to counter them. But unless Kenobi led the fight back over to him, that was going to be very difficult.

"You would be a fool to travel here alone, Kenobi," Dooku said. "But you aren't alone, are you?"

"I'm never alone," Kenobi said glibly, easily blocking the Count's precise blows. "The Force is always with me."

"Where is Skywalker?" Dooku asked, striking at Kenobi with light, sharp moves. "I presume he will be along shortly."

"It seems not," Kenobi said, blocking the Count's strikes. "Am I not enough of a challenge for you?"

Dooku laughed. "Come now, you were never a match for me, Kenobi. But I know your apprentice can't be far right now. You would never enter into a confrontation with me alone."

Grievous watched as the Jedi and Sith battled one another.

"You've trained your pawn well, Dooku," Kenobi said. "Pity it isn't him I'm fighting. He's faster, more intimidating, and, need I say, taller? I could use the exercise."

Dooku raised an eyebrow as he executed a series of offensive moves with his saber. "Judge me by my size, do you?" He lifted Kenobi into the air in a Force choke. "That will be the last mistake you ever make, Kenobi." He flung him to the side.

Grievous magnetically pulled back at the metal in Kenobi's armor to prevent him from hitting the wall of the ship. Instead, he fell to the ground, landing on his hands and feet.

Dooku, who had been watching Kenobi's movements this entire time, now panned his gaze around the room in one swift motion. "Skywalker?! Where are you?"

"Behind you!" Grievous said, pointing. Dooku turned and while he was scanning the bridge window, the cyborg General skittered with six legs across the bridge and then rose, bringing all four of his lightsabers down on the Count.

Dooku turned and deftly blocked the attack, following his block by executing a swift offensive. Kenobi was on him within moments and Dooku backed away from the two, his eyes wide in surprise. The Count looked to Grievous. "What are you doing, General?!"

"I am destroying the Sith! Starting with you!" Grievous said, silently cursing his failure. Now that he had failed with his attempt at misdirection, it would be much more difficult to kill the Sith Lord.

Dooku narrowed his eyes, his movements becoming more fluid and controlled as he slashed at his two attackers. "What has happened with your mind, General?"

"My mind is my own now," Grievous growled.

"Quite the contrary," the Count said. "I think this Jedi has taken control of it."

Grievous spun around, attempting to slice off Dooku's legs. The Count deftly sidestepped the movements and attacked Obi-Wan simultaneously.

What if the Jedi has taken control of my mind? Grievous thought. Anger welled up in him.

"You must kill him to end his control," the Count said calmly.

Grievous turned to Obi-Wan, who's eyes widened on seeing Grievous turn away from the Count.

"I must kill you to end your control," he hissed at the Jedi.

"No!" Kenobi said, blocking the Count's attacks. "I'm not the one trying to control you!"

Grievous brought his four lightsabers down on the Jedi. Loathing filled his mind. "Liar! Jedi scum!"

"No, don't do this!" Kenobi said, jumping away from Grievous' attacks. "You're strong enough to fight him!"

The Count hung back now, watching the proceedings with a small smile. "Maybe I should let you deal with him after all, General."

"Thank you, Master," Grievous said, his attention now focused on the Jedi.

"Please, think," Kenobi said, blocking Grievous' rapid attacks. "Don't let your anger rule you."

"I'll show you anger, Kenobi," Grievous said. He grabbed the Jedi with his foot and flung him across the floor.

"Don't let this Sith rule you," Kenobi said, wincing as he rose from the ground. "You need to concentrate, break his control. Remember our agreement."

As Grievous fought the Jedi, he felt his awareness gradually increase around the edges of his rage. He found the memories of his earlier conversation with Kenobi. He was aware of it now, the hold the Sith Lord had on his mind. A hazy feeling of uncoordinated rage. It told him not to think. It told him to obey. Obey the Count. What the Count could not currently accomplish through technology, he was now attempting to accomplish through the Force. Grievous found himself wanting to continue his attack of Kenobi in spite of his realization. It would be so easy to give in to the Sith's vise-like grip of his mind. So easy to lose everything he had fought so hard to reclaim.

No! I must not let him do this!

Grievous growled and lashed out at the Count with one of his legs. Dooku sidestepped the attack.

"Tsk, tsk, General," Dooku said, frowning and blocking the cyborg's multiple lightsaber attacks with ease. "You really can be exasperating sometimes."

Kenobi pressed in on the Count from the other side, and Dooku performed a force jump away from them. Then he lifted Obi-Wan into the air again and began choking him.

Grievous ran towards the Count with all four lightsabers facing towards his opponent. Just as he was about to reach Dooku, the Count directed his gaze at him and he suddenly found himself collapsing to the ground as his head exploded with pain.

Dooku smiled calmly. "Goodnight, my wayward apprentice. But not to worry, I'll fix up this malfunction of yours, once I've finished with your friend Kenobi here."

Through his increasingly hazy vision, Grievous turned his attention to Kenobi. The Jedi was struggling under Dooku's Force choke, his legs flailing in the air. Grievous didn't have the coordination to pull him down again, and he couldn't stop Dooku's Force choke that way at any rate. Instead, he turned to look at Dooku. His vision was starting to fade out. The pain in his head was agonizing. He lashed out at Dooku with his electric implant. The lightning jolt caught the Sith Lord by surprise, causing him to release Kenobi and double over. Grievous felt the pain in his head lift. In one fluid motion, he grabbed the lightsabers he had dropped earlier, flipped over to the Count, and sliced through his neck.

"Thanks," Kenobi said, gasping from several feet to the cyborg's left. "He was about to finish me off."

"Quiet, Kenobi," Grievous said. "I want to savor this moment." Dooku has paid for his treachery against me. The Count's body lay still on the floor. I thought I could ally myself with these ancient enemies of the Jedi, but it seems the Sith are no better than their foes. I will kill them all. For the first time in years, Grievous felt elation. For a moment the cyborg simply stood over the body of the dead Count. Then he reached down and took the lightsaber that lay on the ground. And now,I am the Master, Dooku.

He turned to Kenobi. "I think it's time to get you off my ship."

Grievous knew it had been many, many years since he'd felt this happy, this much at peace. He had busied himself restoring power to the ship and the droids, and then telling the droids to clean up the mess from the fight. While he usually disliked the uncreative obedience of the droids, it certainly prevented the interference and awkward questions that might have come from a living crew. He'd led Kenobi to the transport ship he had promised the Jedi, and now he stood, his hands behind his back, staring out the viewport of his ship.

He saw a familiar-looking shuttle cross the front of the viewport, traveling away from them.

"Is that Kenobi?" he asked the droid manning the station.

"Yes, sir," the droid said.

A barrage of laser fire attacked the ship, which only twisted away at the last moment.

"There's a communication from the ship, sir."

"Let's hear it," Grievous said.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Kenobi's voice said. "We had an agreement!"

"That we did, Kenobi," Grievous said, walking over to the command chair and settling down into it. "I said I would release Senator Organa. I have done so. I said you would leave my ship on a transport shuttle. Alive. I was true to my word. I never said anything about what would happen to you afterwards."

"I'm not your enemy, Grievous! You don't have to-"

"Save your breath, Kenobi." Grievous said, laughing. "Cut communications," he told the droid.

Grievous had the droids manning the bridge launch several Vultures to attack the ship, and fire several more laser blasts, but the ship managed to escape into the nearby planet's gravity well.

"Should we launch a search party?" the droid asked.

"No," Grievous said. He had a lot of work to do. He couldn't waste time chasing Kenobi on some remote planet, as much as he might like to. Still, he had enjoyed giving the Jedi his parting farewell. "Set course for Raxus Secundus. I'll need to make the Parliament aware of the Count's-sudden demise."