Mission to Grievous's castle

In 21 BBY, the second year of the Clone Wars, a Galactic Republic team led by Jedi Master Kit Fisto and his former apprentice Nahdar Vebb undertook a mission to recapture the escaped Viceroy of the Trade Federation Nute Gunray on Vassek 3. When the group reached the moon, however, they followed the signal from the Republic cruiser the Viceroy stole to escape to a mysterious fortress on the third moon of Vassek. The group entered and believed they had corned the viceroy, but after cutting through five B1-series battle droids, they discovered that this was merely a hologram.
After this discovery, Count Dooku appeared to the group via hologram, and offered an alternative prize. The Jedi and Clone troopers descended further into the fortress, and after passing several statues they discovered that they were in the lair of General Grievous. Dooku believed that Grievous needed a test to prove his effectiveness, and had engineered for the Jedi to come to the moon. The Jedi surprised the general upon his return to his fortress, and after killing several of the clones, Grievous escaped.
Grievous briefly spoke with his doctor, EV-A4-D, who prepared for Grievous' repairs, while Grievous engineered the deaths of the remaining clones, with the Jedi barely escaping each time. Grievous then spoke with Dooku, and learned that the Count had been the one who had sent the Jedi here, and that Dooku was using this to test him. Grievous ended his conversation with Dooku by turning off his hologram, and eventually engaged Nahdar in lightsaber combat, and killed the young Jedi Knight. He then fought against Fisto, until the Jedi was able to escape aboard his Delta-7B Aethersprite-class light interceptor piloted by R6-H5.
Grievous reported to Dooku, and the Count remarked that there was "still room for improvement." Fisto later spoke with Grand Master Yoda and Mace Windu about the mission, and revealed that Nahdar had attempted to answer Grievous' power with his own, and Yoda stated that this was not the Jedi way, and that the Jedi could lose their way due to the war.
==Prelude==
During the Clone Wars, the planet Rodia began to be faced with a shortage of food and supplies. To aid in the Galactic Republic's negotiations them, Senator Padmé Amidala, an old friend of the Rodia's senator Onaconda Farr, was sent to the planet, along with her protocol droid C-3PO and Junior Representative Jar Jar Binks. When Amidala arrived, however, she learned that Farr had decided to ally with the Confederacy of Independent Systems, in order to get aid for his people faster. He revealed that Viceroy Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation promised protection and the aid they required. Amidala pleaded with Farr, but was apprehended by B1-series battle droids, and was scheduled for execution by Gunray At the same time, Binks had found a Jedi robe in a closet aboard Amidala's ship, and was confused for a Jedi by Gunray and his battle droids. C-3PO was taken to be dismantled, but escaped and was able to inform Republic Clone troopers of the situation. Binks and Amidala fought against Gunray's forces, and were eventually reinforced by clones of the 41st Elite Corps, who took Gunray into custody. Amidala and Farr were soon contacted by Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, who informed them that Republic aid was on its way to assist them.
After the Grand Army of the Republic's 41st Elite Corps arrived on Rodia with the Venator-class Star Destroyer Tranquility, commanded by Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and Padawan Ahsoka Tano, the Viceroy was taken aboard the starship and placed under high security with both the 41st Elite Corps and Senate Commandos, an elite division of the Senate Guard, protecting the ship from Separatist attackers, while making voyage to the Republic capital of Coruscant where he would be tried for his crimes against the Republic once again. However, unbeknownst to the Jedi or the viceroy, Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious—publicly known as Chancellor Palpatine of the Republic—and his apprentice Count Dooku—secretly the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus—were already discussing the matter, Sidious knowing that with the viceroy in Republic custody, he would not last very long and eventually reveal secrets, becoming a great threat to their plan. Dooku explained that he had already put a plan into motion to free or silence Gunray, sending his assassin Asajj Ventress to the Tranquility to retrieve him alongside Republic traitor Captain Faro Argyus. Sidious felt uneasy about Ventress being sent on the rescue mission, reminding his apprentice of her past failures that have caused the Confederacy and the Sith numerous losses.
Ventress and a battalion of B2-series super battle droids attacked the Tranquility, boarding the ship using Droch-class boarding ships. The super battle droids dealt with the clones in the hangar, while Ventress waited for them to finish off the clones, where she then made her way to the engine room with several detonators in hand, magnetically sticking them across the entire room to cause damage to the ship and create a diversion for Unduli to leave her post to face the assassin. Tano questioned Captain Argyus whether or not she should help her fellow Jedi, knowing that Ventress was too powerful for a single Jedi. Giving the young Jedi advice, Tano chose to leave her post to aid Unduli, allowing Argyus to defeat Clone Commander CC-1004 "Gree" and release the viceroy, where the two made their escape aboard a stolen Consular-class cruiser.
==The mission==
Tracking the stolen Republic cruiser to the Vassek system's third moon, due to his fleet being near Gunary's position Jedi Master Kit Fisto was tasked with recapturing Viceroy Gunray alongside his old apprentice Nahdar Vebb, who very recently was bestowed the title of Jedi Knight. Fisto landed on the surface of the rocky moon, finding Vebb and a squad of clone troopers awaiting his arrival to begin searching for the viceroy. The group entered the mysterious fortress after Fisto found the secret panel to open the massive door, making their way through the fortress searching for their target, and they soon managed to find a large room where the viceroy was hiding in, sitting in a chair facing away from the Jedi and clones in the center of the room, guarded by five B1-series battle droids, all of which were quickly destroyed. Nahdar used the Force to turn the chair around but to their surprise, Gunray was a hologram, mocking them as he had already escaped the moon prior to their arrival. Suddenly, Count Dooku appeared on the hologram and explained that the viceroy was currently safe elsewhere, offering the Jedi an alternative prize, with Dooku suddenly disappearing and one of the buttons on the arm of the chair lit up, with the Jedi pressing it, giving them access to another room.
The whole group entered the newly accessible room and traversed past several statues of a strange warrior, soon discovering that they were inside the personal and secret lair of the infamous General Grievous. Unknown to the Jedi and clones, Grievous was approaching his fortress, who was contacted by Dooku about his disappointment with the cyborg general on the "stalemate" in the Clone Wars, believing his best general to having lost his focus on killing more Jedi and claiming more victories over the Republic for Lord Sidious. Meanwhile, inside the fortress, the Jedi and clones found several Jedi braids and lightsabers, deducing them all to be his collection of trophies he's claimed from all the Jedi he has defeated and killed. The clones positioned outside discovered that Grievous was spotted and was heading in their direction, allowing the team inside to hide from the general and ambush him upon entry.
Jumping Grievous upon entering his fortress, Master Fisto ordered Grievous to surrender and that if he cooperated, the Senate may be merciful on his punishment, however, the cyborg general immediately pulled out two lightsabers, activating them both and replying that they would be the ones receiving no mercy for their death, with the battle instantly beginning. Outnumbering Grievous, the clones attached cables to the cyborg and pulled backwards to keep him unsteady for Fisto to land an attack on him, though Fisto removed his the lower half of his legs to cease his movement on legs. Grievous then grabbed onto the ceiling and fought back against the clones, but was brought to the ground, though he persisted and kept moving forward even with the clones pulling him back. Nahdar took the chance to kill Grievous and failed to do so because of his attempt being blocked by Grievous' lightsaber, spinning his hand to throw his lightsaber at Fisto, who knocked it to the ground with his own. Leaping to the ceiling once again, Grievous grabbed one of the clones and used him to attack Fisto, and proceeded to throw the clone at Vebb, knocking him to the ground. Retreating down the hallway, the cyborg managed to get hit by a blaster bolt in his face plate, but soon killed two clones, giving him time to make his escape to his secret control room. Confused by where their target escaped to, Vebb stated that the troops prevented him from defeating Grievous, disappointing his old master.
==Aftermath==
Returning to his castle, Grievous contacted Dooku and told him that the Jedi had been defeated but that Fisto had escaped. Dooku congratulated Grievous on his victory over the clones and the young Jedi, Vebb, but stated that he could have done better and that there was still room for improvement before leaving the cyborg to ruminate on his failures. Despite nearly surviving, Grievous understood the cost of failing the Sith once more.Star Wars: The Dark Side Grievous's hatred for Dooku became stronger as he sensed treachery; it was a betrayal he was unwilling to forgive. However, he would soon have his revenge. Immediately,Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Character Encyclopedia - Join the Battle! Grievous ordered that EV-A4-D be recovered and rebuilt to continue to serve him until the conclusion of the war. Realizing he was no longer safe in his fortress, with the Republic having discovered the location, Grievous was forced to abandon Vassek 3 and relocated his base of operations.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars Battlefront II 
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==Sources==
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*Ultimate Star Wars
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*Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded
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*Star Wars: Timelines
*Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
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==Notes and references==
Category:Battles of Vassek 3
Category:Duels
Category:Missions of the Clone Wars