Back on the bridge, Captain Lock's voice crackled through the comm system to Eeth Koth and Scott Lang.
"Status report, Captain," Koth requested urgently.
From Lock's position, the Clone Captain was pinned down by heavy enemy fire, forced to retreat while laying down covering fire against an overwhelming wave of battle droids.
"We're completely outnumbered!" Lock shouted over the sound of blaster fire, his voice tight with anger and frustration. Several more clones fell around him, but the survivors continued fighting with desperate determination.
"Where's Hope?" Scott asked with obvious panic in his voice.
"She ordered us to fall back while she engaged one of the Dark Acolytes," Lock reported between bursts of defensive fire.
Scott felt a surge of fear until he felt a steady hand on his shoulder.
He turned toward Eeth Koth and saw the Jedi Master giving him a reassuring nod.
"Trust your partner, Scott," Koth said with calm confidence. "You Avengers are extraordinary individuals. She knows how to handle herself in combat."
Though he wanted to argue and rush to her aid, Scott knew there was wisdom in Koth's words, especially regarding Hope, who had been separated from them when they first arrived in this star system and had managed to survive on her own until they found her.
Meanwhile, Koth turned his attention back to Captain Lock's dire situation. "All remaining personnel, proceed to the escape pods immediately. I'll handle Grievous here on the bridge."
"But sir, you can't face all of them alone," Lock protested over the comm.
"Would you rather risk having all my men killed unnecessarily? I think not, Captain," Koth countered in a tone that brooked no argument. "Execute the evacuation order."
Lock hated abandoning his commanding officer like this. He desperately wanted to support his general, but Koth had made his priorities crystal clear: get everyone out alive.
"All Horn Company personnel, proceed to evacuation bay seven immediately," Lock commanded his remaining troops. "Miss van Dyne, what's your current position?"
Hope flew rapidly toward the ship's bridge, dodging blaster bolts aimed in her direction. The commando droids were living up to their elite reputation, maintaining a constant barrage of fire while attempting to track her erratic flight pattern.
Right now, she needed to reunite with Scott and Koth and escape the doomed vessel.
However, she stopped mid-flight when she heard clone troopers shouting in panic behind her. Looking back, she saw Lock's remaining men retreating under heavy fire, several wounded troopers being supported by their comrades as they fled from pursuing super battle droids and commando units.
She gritted her teeth in determination and dove straight at the enemy formation, firing her bio-electric stingers. She targeted the droids' joint mechanisms, her stingers having been significantly upgraded since arriving in this galaxy to effectively disable the metallic enemies they regularly encountered.
Meanwhile, Eeth Koth and Scott waited for the inevitable assault on the bridge, with the remaining clone guards aiming their weapons at the primary access door. They could hear heavy metallic footsteps approaching from an alternate entrance, causing the clones to tense while Koth calmly ignited his lightsaber.
Scott's helmet materialized around his head, his thumb hovering over the shrinking control that would reduce him to insect size.
A blue lightsaber blade pierced through the reinforced door from the opposite side and slowly began cutting a circular path through the metal, creating an opening large enough for multiple figures to enter simultaneously.
The bridge fell into tense silence as all blasters trained on the compromised entrance. After completing the full circle, several metallic impacts echoed from the other side, making Scott shift nervously while Koth remained perfectly still.
Suddenly, the cut section exploded inward with tremendous force, causing Scott to instinctively flinch while an unlucky clone was struck by debris and knocked unconscious.
Scott, who had grown back to full size, looked toward the breach and saw General Grievous striding through with his mechanical arms clasped behind his back.
"Jedi," the cyborg general acknowledged before turning his yellow optical sensors toward Scott. "Avenger."
Scott couldn't help but wave back nervously, though he remained focused because he knew he was about to fight for his life.
"How unfortunate," Koth said grimly, gripping his lightsaber as Grievous stepped aside.
Several commando droids filed into the bridge, raising their blasters as the clone defenders opened fire on them. Scott immediately sprang into action, shrinking down and systematically destroying two commando droids by targeting their processing units while Koth eliminated the remaining attackers with precise lightsaber strikes.
However, General Grievous now entered the fray personally, engaging both Koth and Scott simultaneously.
Until Grievous's massive mechanical hand shot out, grabbed the leaping Scott in mid-air, and slammed him violently to the deck. Though Scott's armor absorbed most of the impact, the collision accidentally triggered his size controls, returning him to normal height.
Now back at full size, Scott found himself surrounded by several MagnaGuards, their electrified staffs pointed directly at him in a threatening circle.
Koth was quickly disarmed, with MagnaGuards restraining his arms while another droid secured a chokehold around his neck. The Jedi Master watched helplessly as Grievous leaped onto the central holo-table, shadows emphasizing his menacing yellow optical sensors.
"Eeth Koth, isn't it? I've been looking forward to this encounter," Grievous said with his characteristic mechanical laugh.
"Your reputation precedes you, General," Koth replied with forced calm. "A reputation built on cowardice and murder."
"Murder?" Grievous stood and drew two lightsabers from his collection. "Is eliminating Jedi scum from the galaxy truly murder?"
"Well, that would technically classify it as genocide," the Avenger pointed out dryly.
"General Grievous."
The cyborg general turned to see Asajj Ventress entering the bridge, and the Dark Acolyte immediately focused her attention on the captured Avenger. She smiled maliciously and delivered a vicious kick to his helmeted head.
He was grateful for his protective headgear, though the impact still left him dazed.
"What is the meaning of this interruption?" Grievous demanded impatiently.
"There's another Avenger aboard this vessel," Ventress reported. "She escaped. None of our battle droids can locate her."
"You allowed her to slip away?"
"Have you forgotten her abilities? She can shrink to microscopic size, making her virtually impossible to detect," Ventress shot back defensively.
"Nevertheless, I was able to capture someone with similar capabilities," Grievous countered, gesturing toward the restrained Scott.
Ventress's face twitched with barely controlled anger, but she knew there was no point in arguing with the ruthless cyborg general. She simply gestured to the MagnaGuards.
The droids activated their electro-staffs, sending powerful electrical charges through both the Avenger and the Jedi Master, rendering them unconscious within seconds.
Hidden within a concealed maintenance shaft near the bridge, Hope van Dyne watched through an air vent as Koth and Scott were dragged away by their captors.
Hope clenched her jaw in determination and chose to remain hidden, following the Separatist forces who now held two critically important prisoners. She activated her Avengers emergency beacon, transmitted a priority distress signal, then carefully infiltrated Grievous's ship as it prepared to depart with its valuable hostages.