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Grievous's fortress, also known as Grievous's castle and the lair of General Grievous, was the personal hideout of the cyborg General Grievous, located on the third moon of Vassek. The castle was specifically designed to fit the needs of the General, with a multitude of spare parts on hand as well as full medical facilities. In Grievous's absence, it was inhabited only by medical droid EV-A4-D, Grievous's pet roggwart Gor and a number of MagnaGuards who protected the lair. It also had a collection of traps for "uninvited guests."^[1] Grievous also kept lightsabers of Jedi such as Neebo at his fortress.

Description[]

Located on the third moon of the planet Vassek, among a tangle of sharp, towering mountains, plunging gorges, and tall columns, and at the end of a canyon was a cliff face which hid the castle of General Grievous. Grievous's fortress was a secret citadel littered with deadly traps for anyone who entered, and it was where the Kaleesh cyborg kept his spare parts, along with his own personal droid doctor and pet, the roggwart Gor.^[5] Beyond the general's gloomy trophy room, Lightsaber hilts and Padawan braids stolen from the deadly cyborg's victims were placed on illuminated tables. Several sculptures honoring a mysterious warrior's bloody deeds^[6] and warlord past. Including a Holotable place at the center of the two sculptures.^[3]

Three main access points led into the fortress. The main entrance sat at the end of an approach along a gorge, where there was a large, ornate doorway in a triangular arch, and resembled a giant spearhead. It was deliberately made imposing and intimidating, and was surrounded with glowering red lights to add to the effect. Around the rear was a second, similar entrance. Both access points were designed so that anyone approaching would assume that the doors would open entirely, but were sealed against any such encroachment. At both sides of the castle, the real way in were much smaller doors at ground level, which were built into the larger whole, like postern gates. They could only be opened by triggering a section of the ornamental detail that was all-but indistinguishable from the rest of the design. There was also a small landing pad located at the rear, where the third entry point was a big circular hatch large enough to accommodate Grievous's personal Belbullab-22 heavy starfighter, Soulless One.^[3]

Within the fortress, was a long, stone-flagged corridor, as well as intricate pipework along the ornate walls, which held light globes that casted confusing shadows throughout the passageway and made it difficult to locate doorways in the darkness. At the end of the corridor was an arch that led into a "sanctum overlook," where a walkway led over a plunging fall. A single throne-like seat, complete with a communications panel dominated the room. In one room of the fortress, was a trap door that, when opened, plunged down into a circular pit of lava, and each corridor was surveyed by several TT-8L/Y7 gatekeeper droids, which were monitored from a control room inside the fortress behind a secret door. The castle was also guarded by several IG-100 MagnaGuards, each of which possessed a ceiling-hung rack for recharge outside the control room.^[3]

History[]

At some point, Grievous built his home on Vassek's third moon,^[4] and it was here that he would come to reflect on the life he had lost when he was turned into a cyborg.^[5]

Following Viceroy Nute Gunray's rescue by Count Dooku's assassin Asajj Ventress and the late traitor Faro Argyus,^[7] Dooku decided to lead them to General Grievous's fortress. There, they left their ship's homing beacon at the fortress. Dooku then remotely deactivated the MagnaGuards stationed there, to allow the Jedi to find him and to test Grievous's abilities to kill Jedi.^[3]

The Republic soon followed beacon's signal. Jedi Knight Nahdar Vebb and his clone troopers arrived, and they were then joined by Vebb's former master, Kit Fisto and his droid, R6-H5 in their starfighter. Fisto then found the entrance to the fortress. They went inside, where they found a group of B1-series battle droids defending Gunray. After destroying the battle droids, Fisto, Vebb, and their men realized that it was only Gunray's hologram and that they were only following the beacon. Dooku then appeared, offering Fisto and Vebb an alternative prize. They then made their way through the fortress, coming across statues of a strange warrior. They then found a chamber filled with Grievous's Kaleesh masks and realized they were in the lair of the dangerous cyborg monster.^[3]

Grievous was then detected by R6, Niner, and Bel in his starfighter, the Soulless One, approaching the fortress unaware of them. After landing, Grievous looked for Gor. He was then confronted by Fisto, Vebb and their troopers. However, Grievous was able to kill several of the troopers and make his way towards the control room. Grievous then spoke with his medical droid, EV-A4-D, who told him that his guards were remotely deactivated. Grievous then activated his guards, locked down the fortress, and then activated a trap that killed another clone. Fisto then disabled one of Grievous's security cameras. Grievous then unleashed his pet roggwart, Gor upon the Jedi and Commander Fil. EV-A4-D then began to repair Grievous. The Doctor then repaired Grievous's legs and stated that he sometimes wondered why Grievous had submitted to his changes. Grievous angrily told EV-A4-D that his cybernetics were improvements that he had chosen, and he said that he submitted to no one. His mask was removed from his face, and he would soon be fully repaired.^[3]

After his repairs Grievous was then contacted by Dooku, who revealed that he set up Grievous in order to test skill against a Jedi Master and knight. After ending his conversation, Grievous and his guards then left the control room to kill the two Jedi. Fisto and Vebb then attempted to enter the control room, but were spotted by the Doctor, who alerted Grievous. Fisto was then separated from Vebb and Vebb was forced to fight Grievous and his guards on his own. Fisto then spliced the Doctor's head off. Fisto then watched as Vebb fought Grievous and his guards. Grievous then shot and killed Vebb and taunted Fisto, telling him that he was next.^[3]

Kit Fisto then went back outside to the landing platform, where he contacted R6 to pick him up. As soon as R6 was on the way, Grievous, believing that Fisto was about to leave, arrived at the platform to finish him. They then engaged in a lightsaber duel and Fisto was able to gain the upper hand on Grievous as he reclaimed Vebb's lightsaber, telling him that the power will only consume him. Sooner, as Fisto tried to push Grievous off the platform, several MagnaGuards arrived intending to kill him. R6 then arrived, and with a smile on Fisto's face, Grievous ordered his MagnaGuards to stop him just as Fisto leaped back into his starfighter, flying away.^[3]

Following the encounter, Grievous contacted Dooku and told him that the Jedi had been defeated. Dooku congratulated him for his victory over the clone troopers and Vebb, but having realized that Fisto still escaped, told him that there was still room for improvement.^[3] Aware he was no longer safe in the fortress, with its location known to the Jedi and Republic, Grievous abandoned his castle in the wake of the incident and relocated his base of operations.^[4]

Appearances[]

• Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Rookies" (First appearance) (In flashback(s))
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Lair of Grievous" (First identified as Lair of General Grievous)
• Age of Republic - General Grievous 1 (In flashback(s))

Sources[]

Notes and references[]