AU Star Wars: Legacy Of The Negotiator
CHAPTER ONE: STRIKING AT THE HEART
The planet Ghaf, entrance to the Trade Federation's hall
"Good evening miss Vashee." A green-skinned bulging red-eyed and rather sweaty Neimoidian said with and as slimy voice as he was and bowed before the eighteen year old Togruta princess.
"The same to you mister Gunray, how nice of you to take us so graciously." Princess Zaa Vashee answered and bowed too, then gestured her two bodyguards and attendant to do the same, the two bodyguards bowed and he or she who was really looking could see the taller curl his lip in distaste.
Then the eighteen year old boy bowed, the gale-brown B1 battle droids regarded the four before moving on with their routine patrols, they were an odd group.
"Might I ask something?" Nute Gunray asked gently as he guided the new guests to the great room where more senators were talking and walking around, waiting for the real meeting to start.
"Sure, feel free." Zaa said with a gently politician smile forced on her lips, one that was nearly impossible to sustain.
"Why are you, great princess of Shili, traveling in the company of humans, rather than Togrutas?" his implication was clear to Zaa and she quickly ran through a number of possible answers, finally reaching one satisfying, she said: "Well, in these times of war, I have been forced to take more strict precautions on my safety, and my own species couldn't deliver me worthy bodyguards. So my only option was to seek them with another species, does that satisfy your curiosity?".
"I understand, just one thing: why the boy?" Nute continued, clearly not realizing this was the point to stop asking.
Zaa stopped and looked up to the Neimoidian, swallowed and then gave him a you-know-why look.
"I understand, now if you'll excuse me, I have other guests that require my attention." Nute said and bowed before walking away.
The four walked closer to each other and the attendant walked next to Zaa, "Nice one." He whispered and Zaa answered without risking a look at him, "I'm getting better on this, gradually." She smiled and looked around, at least she wasn't alone in this.
"All these senators, they're all… alien…" the taller of the two bodyguards said and looked around, the other glanced at him.
"What do you mean with that, Ah- I mean Zaa here is not a human either…" he said and Zaa turned around.
"C'mon guys, focus." She said agitated and the two bodyguards turned back to their official stances.
"Well hello, what have we here?" a voice Zaa and her attendant knew all too well said and they both suppressed the urge to say the name.
"Excuse me?" Zaa said with a slight change of pitch in her voice.
The boy, also eighteen judging by the appearance, was dressed in fancy clothing and bowed deeply for Zaa, "Allow me to introduce myself: I am Lux, Senator of Raxus." He took Zaa's hand and kissed it, which Zaa pretended not to mind.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Zaa Vashee, princess of Shili, I am here to represent my people." Zaa replied after a short what-the? Moment.
"Would you like something to drink?" Lux asked.
"Some water please." Zaa replied distantly while looking around the room.
"Go get us some water, attendant, and be quick with it." Lux ordered the attendant and received a dirty look from him.
Zaa looked at her attendant and he took off, the taller of the two guards followed him and together they walked to the bathroom instead of the table with the drinks on it.
As soon as the door closed and they confirmed that they were the only ones there, the bodyguard took his helmet off.
"Eyan, you don't like that guy at all, do you?" he said and Eyan, the attendant, sighed, "Not a bit, Master Skywalker." He replied.
"First of all: you call me Kay here, and second: if we get outta here, you're gonna start calling me Anakin," Anakin said with a grin.
"Sure thing, Kay!" Eyan said and smiled back at Anakin Skywalker.
"Well, I'm going to be glad when we get out of here." Anakin said and Eyan drunk a bit of water, "I thought you would be happy that we had given up on taking the viceroy into custody and that we have decided to end him once and for all?" Eyan said questioning and trembling once from the ice-cold water.
"I am, just I don't like this whole undercover mission thing, I mean, the fact that we are surrounded by pretty much all of our enemies and that Dooku is here doesn't matter, it just feels wrong." Anakin said musing and Eyan gave him a playful smile.
"You dare telling Obi-Wan that?" after that the tension was gone, that tension that had always been between Anakin and Eyan, Obi-Wan was or had been the master of both of them at one point, and so they knew exactly what Eyan was referring too.
"Concentrate on the living Force, the moment." Anakin cited with a voice remarkably close too being Obi-Wan's, the only thing missing was the perfectly groomed hair and beard of Obi-Wan.
"How do you think Ahsoka and Obi-Wan are doing?" Eyan asked and Anakin didn't reply, then Eyan caught his mistake, "Okay, how are Zaa and Ryan doing then?" he corrected himself.
"Bored to death and waiting for their drink, let's hurry up and get it." Anakin said and the two stood up and walked away.
A week later
Eyan and Zaa moved out of the suite they had been in, then looked at Kay and Ryan guarding the door.
"Ready?" Zaa, or rather Ahsoka Tano asked and the two guards regarded her.
"Yes, I am ready." Kay and Ryan said, then Ryan and Eyan walked away.
"Master, do you think they can do it?" Ahsoka asked concerned as she watched the two leave, Kay, or Anakin replied "Do you mean: can Eyan handle it? With they?" a smile appeared on his face as Ahsoka faced away for a second.
"This whole operation was his idea Ahsoka, he can do this, I mean, he got Obi-Wan to relax, that is something I couldn't even do, Obi-Wan even makes jokes now." Anakin said comforting.
"Yes… but still… I have been having a bad feeling about this operation since it began.".
"Look, as long as we do our part correctly, Obi-Wan will drag him through.".
"And our part is scraping some tinnies, we can do that!" Ahsoka said feeling a little better.
"Look, there they are!" Ahsoka shouted and pointed at the bulky B2 battle droids in the distance, then activated her lightsaber.
"Well, that was easy, let's make some noise!" Anakin shouted and the two ran towards the droids, who were already shooting at the two Jedi.
Gunray's office
"What was that noise?" Nute Gunray asked startled at the noise of blastershots and looks at the gentleman that is standing next to the door.
"Well, this is interesting…" Count Dooku of Serreno said and listened carefully to the sounds that came from the other side of the door.
The guards moved from the other side of the vast office to the door and Dooku moved away from it.
"Count, what is interesting?" Nute Gunray asked panicky and glanced scared at the door.
"Viceroy Gunray, it appears some Jedi have managed to infiltrate this hall and are now coming this way, how curious, I had though security measures would be better." Dooku said calmly and relaxed, "You are my security Count, and I didn't think they would behave like this in public, I must admit." Nute snarled.
At that instant, the door blew inward and two Jedi stormed into the room, two sky-colored lightsabers shining in the sunlight falling through the glass ceiling.
"Well, here's more of a surprise, it is Obi-Wan and his pesky little pet, what, have you Jedi started learning the Quey'tek ability or something?" Dooku said with the customary gentlemen smile, after all, Dooku was a Count, and being a Sith wouldn't lessen his manners.
With his armorweave cloak trembling slightly, Dooku sat down on the edge of Nute Gunray's desk, ten magnaguards appearing behind him and shielding Gunray.
"Dooku…" Obi-Wan said softly and calm, Dooku simply smiled.
"Ah, the war hasn't made you forget my name. Well, anyway, I assume here is where you tell me to surrender?" Dooku asked yawning.
"It is, and it is also the part where we disassemble your droids and take you two in custody." Eyan said confidently, Obi-Wan glanced at him, somewhere, it didn't feel like it was overconfident, Eyan had learned since the last time.
"Ah yes, empty bravado, here is your answer." Dooku said and the magnaguards move aside, revealing Anakin and Ahsoka stun-cuffed and flanked by more magnaguards.
"If I may, one step and they're dead!" Gunray said mocking and Eyan frowned, looking past Anakin to Ahsoka, who returns an I'm-so-sorry-we-failed look.
"Eyan, relax, the moment." Obi-Wan said and Eyan nodded, standing up straight and slightly angling his lightsaber to the ground.
"Luckily Dooku, we came prepared." Eyan stated and in the split second Dooku needed to realize it was all a lie, Obi-wan and Eyan had already surrendered to the Force and leapt.
Over the magnaguards and behind Gunray.
"You face the identical: one step and the viceroy here dies." Obi-Wan said cleanly and holds his lightsaber to Gunray's throat, frowning from the stench Gunray spreads.
"This certainly isn't a Jedi tactic, not a Jedi action at all, tell me, have the Jedi finally given up on pacifism?" Dooku asked and walked around observing the scene as if it were a rare beast in a cage.
As a matter of fact, it could be compared with a rare beast in a cage.
"Not exactly, but desperate times call for desperate measures, isn't that how the saying goes?" Obi-Wan said smiling and at that moment Eyan felt the balance shift, and it nearly made him faint, it was as if he were back then when he felt the dark side for the first time, only then through a sonic blaster.
The magnaguards circled around them and activated their phrik alloy shock staffs, both ends of the long sticks now ended in purple bundles of discharged energy.
"Should I order my magnaguards to kill you, or do you want to surrender, I can promise your death if you surrender will be much less painful." Dooku said and the answer was pretty obvious.
"Dooku, what are you doing?" Gunray screeched scared and suddenly he seemed to realize that even with his terribly good manners Dooku was still a Sith.
"I'm sorry Eyan, they had us outnumbered…" Ahsoka sobbed as Eyan walked towards her and Anakin, preparing for the moment that they would have to move, this could go two ways: Dooku could surrender and nothing violent would happen, or the viceroy would die and there would be fighting.
But he was almost sure that it would proceed violently.
"Finish them!" Dooku ordered the magnaguards and left the room, at that moment, horror happened.
A slice cut Gunray's head clean off, and an unexpected explosion blinded the Jedi.
The sound had Eyan's ears peep, and the force had him thrown across the room, seconds later, he regained vision.
Blur, his head turning and pounding, he stood up shakily, the magnaguards had been blown to black dust and Ahsoka helped Eyan up, he looked around the room in sudden cold fear.
No…
Realization.
No!
Where was Obi-Wan?
Towards Dooku's sloop
Dooku smiled, that had been precisely the right timing, losing viceroy Gunray wasn't such a loss at all, after the meeting he'd lost his use and the Jedi had come right in time.
Of course, he had to make sure it had been the killing blow for the viceroy, and Dooku couldn't have the Jedi destroy the magnaguards and take the viceroy to prison, where he would surely spill all the secrets after Dooku's display of betrayal.
But that was none of his worries now, with a slight bit of joy in his treads Dooku walked towards his sloop.
Maybe, if the Force was really with him, the explosion might have taken the Jedi with them, hopefully even Skywalker, but Obi-Wan was good two, Dooku didn't mind their petty padawans, they were no trouble for the count, but their masters on the other hand.
The Negotiator and the Hero With No Fear, as their monikers said.
Dooku walked up the boarding ramp and told the FA-5 droid to set course to his next destination.
He smiled, this had been a rather good day, after all, everything had gone rather well, and he didn't even have to fight.
Delighted, Dooku contacted his master.
A/N: Well, surprise, surprise!
Guys, I am doing this because I did some thinking, and over all, reading Labyrinth of Evil and Revenge of the Sith novels, I think TMA and ASC were my favorite stories qua writing Star Wars and that alone, and I really hope to experience that feeling again, hopefully enjoyable for you just the same as me, anyway, have fun!
Please Review and Enjoy!
Ps: I kinda need to get back in this writing style after FMW, so excuse me for any mistakes I made….