Together Again...

[HK-42]

4 years...It had been 4 years since the last time Grievous had been side by side with the one he called Master, Kyrel Ren, on the battle field. Grievous had left the battle and Kyrel Ren at that point in time for his own personal reasons, but by the time he was on his way to Mustafar, he was currently inactive, hanging on a large Rack with other Battle Droids. The purpose of these droids to Grievous when he occasionally blinked in and out of consciousness, he did not know, but he knew one thing; They were going to Mustafar.

"M-Must...Find...R-Ren" He said one day, just mere hours before his cargo shipment was to be delivered down to the planet below. He was badly damaged, with broken bits of metal plating, wiring, and rust all across his body. He had even lost his right eye, with a clear lightsaber slash to the face. Whatever cause this damage, was clearly an expert with a blade. But for now, all HK-42's body was to the workers was just a bit of decoration at worst, a battle droid to scrap at best. He was loaded in with other metal supplies such as desks, computers, and even containers of weapons and armor, before a First Order Freighter took his shipment down from the massive Destroyer he found himself on, down to the surface, where Darth Vader's old Castle was located.

 

[Kyrel Ren]

4 long years had passed between the time Kyrel and his personal assassin droid was together last seen trying to defend the Sith Imperials of Commenor, and to eliminate the Rebel Queen, Kyrel was captured with his droid missing in action. Kyrel himself thought the droid long since dead. In all actuality the droid had been floating in space, with those reporting from out in the middle of space, they had found a large scrap pile of Battle Droids. From who or what? He couldn't say of course, those that found him were carrying much of what First Order equipment they could salvage during the current SSi-Ruuk onslaught upon the First Imperial Worlds. In those years since their parting, the First Order for a time knew peace before being assaulted by the old adversaries. Now they were scattered across the stars, their capital utterly destroyed. Work that was almost 20 years in the making was all but on the verge of disaster.

The Freightor had dropped off their shipments at the Forge, the Bastion of First Imperial influence and the resources to start again, the droid's all but ruined body was taken to Fortress Vader, Kyrel's personal dwelling, only recently being fortified after arriving on Mustafar with those that he could save. The troopers escorting the remains of the droid, the Master of the Knights of Ren looked upon the body, recognizing who it was. His face shocked at what he saw. The droid that had served him was now here, in all these years. He only assumed it was the will of the Force at work, that during these desperate times perhaps the Force had brought the droid to serve him again, he thought of what to do with the droid. With First Imperials ideals hanging in the balance. He needed all those that he could gather in order to prepare to fight for their future. With Mustafar having much ancient history, an idea occurred to him, he needed his old companion to command an army and to oversee the construction of what would be their future. The old droid factories and mining facilities of Mustafar needed to be brought back, seeing a vision of his Droid overseeing such forces that would strengthen Kyrel's vision for the future.

"HK-42 activation protocol Scorch-666... Let's see if you are still able to function." He said as he wondered if he still had enough power to activate, if not he could bring forth the technicians to repair him. He stood curious to see what could occur next.

[member="HK-42"]

 

[HK-42]

Within a moment of the activation code being stated, HK-42 was alive once more...Sort of. He was sparking all over the place, twitching, and found talking very difficult, but was still capable of looking around all be it very glitchy and slowed. He looked around the area, not yet seeing [member="Kyrel Ren"] to his side, as he was just simply looking around the place.

"Where....Am...I? What...Is...Happening? Who...Has...Reawakened...G-GRIEVOUSSSS"

HK-42 Seemed disoriented and confused about his current situation, not even recognizing the First order Uniforms or the planet's terrain matching that of Mustafar. He must of been worse off the Kyrel originally perceived.

 

[Kyrel Ren]

Kyrel was overall pleased with the reawakening of his Assassin Droid. He would be useful in his plans to come, but noticed upon the droid's reactivation that he had suffered more damage than previously thought. While the droid was known for taking on anything in a fight. Now he had come here but a broken mess, even his vocabulater was not what it once was, and although the troopers had raised their blasters in a precautionary measure. Kyrel was not concerned in the slightest due to his own experiences with the droid, and most of all being it's master. He had faced even deadlier opponents.

Speaking to the droid very carefully, as the technicians approached with their tools. And began their repairs. Repairing the scarred and damaged layers that made up HK. Perhaps a new droid body would be considered when the factories were rebuilt and restored to proper working order. Until then while the droid was undergoing repairs. Kyrel spoke to him calmly. "I am your Master. You may not remember me Grievous but do know I do not wish to harm you in anyway, only for you to return to me, repaired so the great work can continue." He said as the technicians started to repair his damaged droid brain.

[member="HK-42"]

 

[HK-42]

"I...Remember you...Kyrel...Where...Am I? What...Took you....So Long?" Although Grievous had been damaged, he still somehow managed to keep a sliver of his sarcastic attitude he picked up with Kyrel alive. At least the droid remembered who he was, but as the repairs were being done, he swatted away an engineer who was attempting to fix his right eye. His Vocabulator had been fixed for the most part at this point, but it was still slightly glitchy at times. "I am...K-Keeping the Eye. I am wanting to...Remember the one who...Beat me. Jedi. Dirty, Filthy Jedi Scum. Ripped my eye out. Furbag. Deserves to be back in chains like...The Empire did before." Whoever this Jedi was that Grievous was describing, it was clearly hinted at the Jedi either was a Wookie, or had a Wookie Companion who managed to beat him, leaving him in the state that [member="Kyrel Ren"] Found him in.

 

[Kyrel Ren]

The technicians moved back compling with the Droid's request to keep his eye. Kyrel watched as he listened to the droid speak up, something about being attacked by a Jedi, or a Wookie. Perhaps it could have been both of course. The technicians retreated, as the droid was left alone with his Master. It had been several years, and for all Kyrel knew he thought the droid had perished on Commenor. It seemed that wasn't the case, and where he had been it was what the Master of Ren had been curious about, walking back and forth in a pacing manner, he started to think to himself as to why.

But now he couldn't have come back at a greater time, the First Imperial Remnant known as the Crimson Hand had started to build on Mustafar. As long as it remained undisturbed the work would continue. Kyrel's vision would be. He had plans, construction for new facilities such as the new Droid Foundry would be useful. Gazing back at the droid, he spoke once more. "I have been serving the First Order I thought you perished during the Battle of Commenor. It seems I was mistaken. Now that you have come back, we must carry out what will be the future. If you will serve that is?" He asked curious to see if the droid still wanted to help him in his designs.

[member="HK-42"]

 

[HK-42]

As HK-42 listened to [member="Kyrel Ren"] speak about how he thought that Grievous fell during the Battle of Commenor and that the Crimson Hand was being founded on Mustafar, he thought about something. Mustafar used to be a Separatist Territory, one that had a Droid Foundry on the planet. Although one had been destroyed by the Galactic Empire during the first few months after the Clone Wars, another one existed.

"I have a plan, Kyrel. The return of the title of General to my name. There is a Droid Foundry that still remains on this world. I will help, but we will need an army."

Grievous got up, repaired enough to act normally except for his right eye being ripped out and moving in front of Kyrel. He looked down at him, staring at him for a bit before doing something he'd never done before in front of Kyrel; He started laughing, the laugh sounding very similar to the Original General Grievous' laughter.

"I would recommend a Droid Army, able to be produced by the millions and be capable of conquering worlds for the Crimson Hand to rule. If you want to go with a more Organic, Meatbag army, then the droids will still be made...Just in Case."

 

[Kyrel Ren]

Kyrel listened closely to what the droid had to say, pitching the idea of restarting a new droid factory, and while Kyrel knew that Mustafar had a history reaching all the way back to the Clone Wars. He never thought of the idea before, and while Mustafar had resources such as Fortress Vader and the Forge with its own garrisons of Stormtroopers and a Defense Fleet for the world, he needed more in that case. He needed more of an army, and while Droids are ineffective at times. They were cheap to mass produce given the resources of metals and materials the harsh landscape had to offer. An idea began to form in his head, even more so when the droid claimed to be a new Grievous.

"Perhaps we will move to such plans, I have very little manpower and while we cannot make our move just yet on our enemies. I can build new forces while we find and amass followers to our cause. Very well Grievous while I do not have official military authority you are granted the title nonetheless. We can foresee construction along the Gahenn Plains. Not far from Fortress Vader, meanwhile you will have access to any information regarding droid designs of the CIS, Gizor Delso, anything you can find. But do note that we will not unleash our forces right away, we need to find those that may prove useful, allies be it dark siders, military officers, or other warlords we will not let our enemies win."

[member="HK-42"]

 

[HK-42]

"But of course..." He said with a new found personality shift. "I will be sure to have Battle Droids produced by the millions before we launch such attacks. I will leave finding those 'Useful Allies' to you, Kyrel. After all, out of the two of us, you are the more effective...Diplomat"

He then looked around the area, as if he was searching for a specific person, before looking back down at [member="Kyrel Ren"] "One question though; Where is this, Gizor Delso? He will be put to the test when it comes to the new droid designs."

 

[Kyrel Ren]

He silently felt amused by how the droid did not know of the ancient past, while much of it was lost. He still found what he could in regard to records from the Empire Centuries ago. Such things were not easy to find or go through, but even the Four Hundred Year Darkness could not keep such parts of the past hidden from him, and while he was not the best diplomat rather regarding skills as a warrior, such matters that he needed to attend to was rebuilding the Knights of Ren and currying favor with his Sith Allies. They were his only hope to see his plans to frution after being surrounded by so many enemies.

"Long since dead, A former Genosian Scientist who dates back to the Clone Wars. He was killed when he tried to rebuild a droid army on Mustafar. Vader and his 501st was dispatched to kill him. Destroyed his factory and the designs. Perhaps you can scavenge any data that was left at the site although it would be a useless effort. Other abandoned CIS Outposts may work to your advantage as well."

[member="HK-42"]

 

[HK-42]

"You will need someone else to investigate those ruined, Kyrel. For Now...I will need to prepare these plains you spoke of for our plans."

As Grievous began to walk away from [member="Kyrel Ren"], He stopped after walking a few feet and looked down at his hands, before looking back at Kyrel, as if he just had a revelation about something. "And I will answer something you said before...'We will not unleash our forces right away', was it? Well I believe that once we have the proper numbers of droids and ships to accompany them and move this new droid army about, The new droids should be tested on the battlefield. To show the Galaxy that Grievous has returned...and that even the Confederacy will not be safe from my plans. I will keep my eye out for such an opportunity, but when it comes around, do not be surprised if I prepare my droids for total domination and complete victory over that scenario."

Grievous then looked out towards the mountainous lavascape that was the Mustafarian Plains, going back to his Grievous-like laughter, clearly enjoying the idea of millions of Battle Droids marching across the stars, defeating even the strongest of foes. He stayed where he was of course, as he wanted to hear what Kyrel had to say in response to his slight monologue.

 

[Kyrel Ren]

While Kyrel was pleased with what his droid said in taking pride in using his forces to destroy all of Kyrel's enemies. He felt that even the droid had his ego cloud his judgement, he had no doubt that he would do great and amazing things with his forces. It was not time to strike that was for certain and even Kyrel felt cautious about moving too quickly. The time for allies was now when enemies from all sides seem to encroach upon him. Caution was one of utmost importance in regards to see what plans he had to fruition. Galactic Dominance while an idea and a means to an end. It needed to be planned just right in order for everything to work.

Watching the droid finish his monologue, Kyrel's tone was that of a warning. "You are Confidant Grievous while I do admire your bloodlust and desire for conquest, we must not move hastily. We are not the Mighty Empire the First Order was, and until it can be returned to it's former glory. We must move quickly, but we must also remain silent in the shadows. Our enemies surround us, and while you are very eager first and foremost I would exercise Caution. I would not be pleased if you have caught the attention of our enemies due to the droid armies you will create."

[member="HK-42"]

 

[HK-42]

Grievous looked back at [member="Kyrel Ren"] with a look that could easily be identified with...confusion. It was as if the concept of taking it slow was being put on hold, especially with what had happened to the First Order during his "Hiatus".


"With All due respect, Kyrel...I believe there is a way to allow both of us to carry on with both of our...ambitions and plots. Before I had been left out in the voids of space, I had heard of a single droid that planned to rip apart as many organics as he could, and to egg other Larger Factions to come in after him. Although the designation of this droid is...Unknown...I plan to support him with as many droids that our foundries can develop that I can. First Order Colors will not be painted on the ships, nor any Separatist Colors. This will allow the First Order to remain out of the picture when it comes to involvement, which allows you to keep us to the Shadows, while I will lead the droids trough these "trial runs", to truly test them against the Galaxy, allowing me to follow my plans. Once the Droid Army has been tested and trialed on the fields of battle, we could use it against other planets, making them bow to the First Order once more."

The arguments presented to Kyrel by Grievous were rather interesting. As is he had been planning for this moment for a long time. Long enough to where he had a solid plan and ambition about what to do with this new found power. As for his Ego, it didn't seem to deflate at all, despite Kyrel's Warning. It wouldn't be surprising if something else that Grievous wasn't talking about, or just couldn't recall was causing this sudden change in behavior and attitude, since he was acting more and more like his namesake with every sentence he spoke.