I'm back. New story. Let's get to it.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree

Far into the heart of darkness just beyond the Outer Rim, a Separatist Frigate loomed heavily over a red planet. Its engines lay cold, letting the ship orbit lifelessly around the planet.

The view of the planet from the bridge was an ominous one, but masters of the Force such as Count Dooku could feel the omnipresent darkness surrounding it from a parsec away.

"My lord," A tactical droid, TR-0, grumbled in its thick metallic voice. "We have the prisoner ready for you."

Dooku nodded over his shoulder. "Bring her to me."

The blast doors to the bridge hissed open with a pair of Magna Guard entering, each grasping the arm of the prisoner as they dragged her before the Count.

Dooku looked at the lifeless prisoner and raised his brow in a question at TR-0.

"She's perfectly conscious my lord," The droid began moving to the prisoners side. "She just needs a little stimulus." It reached out with a skinny tool arm and sent several volts of electricity into the prisoner's neck.

She cried out but not in pain, rather in aggravation. She came to life like a hyperdrive and began struggling against the Magna Guards and the stun-cuffs that bound her hands together behind her back. Another shock dissuaded any more struggling.

"Enough," Dooku ordered. He waved his hand and all the droid stepped away from the prisoner, letting her drop to her knees. "Do you know why I've brought you here?" He asked, looking down at his captive.

"Revenge…" She said between heavy breaths. "Definitely for revenge…" There was a touch of smugness in her voice. Despite the torcher he'd put her through to weaken her, she was defiant as ever.

"Hmm," Dooku snorted in amusement. "You're as resilient as your former master." He allowed a small grin. "But just as naïve as well."

She lifted her chin and glared daggers right back at him. "Leave Anakin out of this," She hissed through gritted teeth. Her left cheek was blackened from a blow she took in interrogation and there was a bacta patch on her right thigh from when she was shot during her capture. Some minor bones were broken as well, as per his instructions. And yet, despite the pain he's put her through, she still had an undying fire in her eyes. He hated people like her, never willing to submit.

TR-0 approached his master. "Sir, we found former Jedi Tano hiding on Nar Shaddaa." The droid extended a datapad to him. "In the subsequent pursuit, she is responsible for the destruction of four squads of droid units, three Magna Guards and a gunship."

"What is your point TR-0?"

"It is that this little life form has cost the Separatist Alliance millions of credits in hardware." The droid said with a distinct tone of anger directed at Ahsoka Tano, who only grinned. "I recommend another full detail of torture to ensure she doesn't cost any more logistical nightmares."

Dooku skimmed the datapad and returned it. "Hmm, indeed. It seems this young one owes us a debt." He said to amuse himself. Costs were of no concern to him, but he did enjoy see TR-0 exhibit its form of anger. TR-0 was a new prototype tactical droid that was built with the specific function of learning from its experiences and think for itself. In other words, it was almost sentient but minus all the flesh and blood. Dooku always allowed TR-0 to command forces and conduct operations as it sees fit, giving it more experience to draw on in the future.

TR-0 was already an effective battlefield commander, now if only it could hold a lightsaber properly, that way he'd have another General Grievous to rely on. Dooku was amused by that thought.

"I conquer," TR-0 continued. "I shall see to her suffering personally."

"In a moment TR-0," Dooku commanded. "First I must extract the information I brought her here for. Then I want the final preparations in place for our excursion to the planet bellow."

"Yes my lord," The droid dipped its head in disappointment, a very human characteristic. "I shall see to the preparations." It skulked off, glaring at Ahsoka the entire way out of the bridge.

"Friendly droid," Ahsoka commented chirpily. "You should make an army of those things."

Dooku dropped his gaze down at her. "I plan to. Now tell me," He subtly waved a hand, picking Ahsoka up with the Force and suspending her above the ground. "Where is Asajj Ventress?"

"What?" Ahsoka blurted out in anger. "You have me blasted, captured and tortured just so you can ask me where someone I hardly know is!" Ahsoka's blood boiled. There was a reason she's been minding her own business ever since leaving the Republic. She has accumulated a great many enemies fighting in the war, most of them being Separatist.

"You didn't answer my question." Dooku's eyes narrowed into slits. "Where is Ventress?"

She didn't speak. Not even a quip or smug remark, just defiant silence.

Dooku twisted his wrist and shoving Ahsoka into the cold durasteel deck.

Ahsoka grunted as she hit the ground with the bruised side of her face first.

"Don't bother protecting her. I know full well she assisted you on Coruscant some months ago. You are the last person to have been with her so I ask you again, where is she?"

Ahsoka pushed herself to stand without having to use her arms to get her off the ground. "We don't have much in common but at least we know what it feels like to be abandoned by the people we trusted our lives with."

Force lighting jutted into her stomach like a missile, smashing her back into the ground.

"How dare you," Dooku had let his anger empower his attack. "I had no choice but to order her death. Just as I am forced to hunt her down and put an end to her life,"

He then realized he had said too much. Now he will have to kill her. The darkness from the planet bellow had a deeper effect on him than he had originally anticipated.

It was pointless questioning her any further as she was too much like Anakin Skywalker who has been his greatest foe throughout the war. Killing his former Padawan should have an effect on him from a galaxy away, making it all the more enjoyable.

"Guards, kill her." He said, sitting down his command throne. "Slowly,"

The two Magna Guards approached her with electro staffs charged and at the ready.

It was now or never, she thought. She went from lying on her back in supposed pain to flipping through the air in a mere blink of the eye. While traveling she threw off her stun-cuffs which she had deactivated as soon as they had been put on her. She completed her flip and landed behind the Magna Guards and executed a sweeping kick, putting the heavy droid of their feet and face first into the durasteel.

She immediately used the Force to pick up both droid and position them in front of her as she crouched behind them. Dooku's lightning came a split-second later, frying the droids instead of her, just as she had predicted.

The Count rose to meet her rebellion with his lightsaber but was caught off-guard when she hurled the droids with all her might at him. He used the Force to deflect them harmlessly away but was soon met by a flying Togruta teenager's fist coming into his jaw.

He grunted and fell back into his throne. She drew back her arm for another swift jab and was cut off by a gut full of Force lightning. She flew back into the sealed bulkhead and then slide down onto the deck.

Dooku rubbed his jaw and cheek bone, suspecting that he might have a matching bruise to hers.

"Brave but foolish," Dooku seethed. "Your death will be all the more painful."

Ahsoka struggled to stand but when she did, Dooku could only stare in surprise.

She ignited a lightsaber, his lightsaber, and held the red blade at the ready.

Clever girl, Dooku thought. Her whole attack was just a diversion to steal his weapon!

He channeled his darkside energy and unleashed a volley of lightning at her. She was quick to dodge and ran into the crew pits and amongst the droid crewmembers surrounding the control consoles. Dooku's lightning traveled wherever she went, scorching anything it touched. Helpless droids cried out in electronic agony as some of them where caught up in Dooku's attack.

The Count stopped his lightning attack as soon as he realized that his was damaging the bridge of his own ship.

"Send reinforcements to the bridge at once! I want this child dead!" He growled into his comlink.

He jumped down from his command throne into the crew pits. He found Ahsoka fiddling with a set of controls as droids ran from her to safety.

"Out of my way!" Dooku blasted the droids in front of him to make a clear path towards Ahsoka. He then reached out and then seized her by the neck with the Force.

Ahsoka gasped for air as she struggled to put in the last set of commands into the ship's computer. Dooku hit her with a jolt of lightning, collapsing her onto the console.

"Your beaten child, give up." Dooku commanded as he approached.

Ahsoka held on to the console and looked back at him. "Why don't you?" She smashed a button on the key panel. An unsettling feeling of nausea came over him as everything around him began floating freely.

She had turned off the gravity controls.

Ahsoka launched herself at Dooku, faster than ever. He was almost bisected by his own lightsaber as she flew at him with it. Dooku tried to use the Force to catch and crush her but she was bouncing off the walls and floor too fast for him to concentrate on her.

Instead he hurled a clutter of scattered droid parts at her. She intercepted them with his lightsaber and sent back the diced molten hot piece. He threw them to the side and sent another round of Force lightning at her. She dodged with ease.

And suddenly, everything fell down. Dooku crashed into the deck on his back, a bad spot for a man of his age.

Either the gravity controls automatically fixed itself, which he doubted, or Ahsoka had programmed them to activate and deactivate at regular intervals. That meant only she knew when the gravity would activate and deactivate, which gave her the perfect chance to strike when he was vulnerable.

He used the Force to assist him off the ground and expected a flying Togruta child to come at him from any direction. But there was no one left on the bridge save for a few lucky droids.

"Where is she?" He questioned the cowering crew.

"Uhh… that way," One droid answered, pointing at the blast doors, which had a smocking red hole cut into it which only a being of Ahsoka's small size could squeeze through. Also the controls to the door were sliced in half, rendering them inoperable.

He took it back, Ahsoka wasn't naïve or foolish. Just incredibly brave and annoying.

"TR-0" He spoke into his comlink. "Set the ship on maximum lockdown. The prisoner has escaped. Exterminate her with extreme prejudice."

"Right away my lord," TR-0 replied with elated excitement.

"And send an engineering crew to the bridge as once. The gravity controls have been tampered with." Dooku added.

"Already have my lord," The droid replied. "I had done that point three seconds after I started to drift off the ground."

…

Hallway lights overhead swished by her as she traveled at her top speed towards the ship's nearest hangar bay. She called on the Force to block out the pain coming from her still healing thigh and aching chest. It would be obvious to Dooku that she going to try to steal a star ship but she had little choice. She couldn't stay on the ship and be eventually captured and killed and she'd rather have something more flyable than an escape pod.

If they still built Separatist Frigates the way she remembered on her many missions involving the infiltration of one, then a hangar bay should be just beyond the blast doors coming up ahead of her. Also the gravity should be shutting down in ten seconds or so as per instructions for it to go off and on every thirty seconds.

The blast doors ahead slid open before she could reach them, revealing a whole line of B2 Super Battle Droids with their wrist blasters pointed at her. In the middle of them was TR-0, leveling a blaster at her.

"Surprise meat bag," The droid said sinisterly. "Open fire!"

A wave of red blaster bolts rushed her. She charged forward, lightsaber swinging wildly in order to deflect some of the barrage. Just a few more seconds, she thought.

She leapt and pushed off the side wall for a flip through the air, deflecting blaster bolts as she went.

Three…

"Aim for the legs. The legs!" TR-0 ordered.

Two…

A bolt grazed her knee, sending pain up her body. She didn't stop for a moment.

One!

Everything floated off the ground again. Ahsoka took advantage of her weightlessness and flung herself at the struggling droids. When she got close enough she performed perfect sweeping slashes, creating red halos with her lightsaber and taking out the entire squad. TR-0 avoid being massacred and was floating helplessly back into the hangar, blaster going off wildly as he desperately tried to blast her.

"You're going to pay for that!" The droid screamed and flailed about.

Ahsoka pushed herself off the ground and flew at TR-0. "Send me a bill then!" She extended a foot and caught TR-0's head with it, sending the droid cartwheeling away like an out of control pod racer.

The nearest ship was a small shuttle with a capable hyperdrive and shields but the next ship over from it was a pod shaped solar sailor. A Punworcca 116-class yacht, she remembered the name from a holozine on luxury star ships she had read a while ago. Something told her that this fancy piece of hardware belonged to Count Dooku. A mischievous thought popped into her head…

"My lord," TR-0's voice came through the comlink.

"Have you killed her yet?" Dooku said, using the Force to keep himself secured to his command throne as droid engineers worked on getting the blasted blast door open.

"Not yet – aahhh!" The droid cried out in surprise as the gravity came back on again, followed by the distinct sound of metal crashing into metal. "She's a slippery one. Made a mess of the hangar…"

"Then why are you not pursuing her? Do you need even more reinforcements?"

"No sir, there's actually a bit of a problem... She's stolen you're ship."

Dooku pressed the palm of his hand against his forehead. "By the Force…" He wanted to shout until his old lungs burst. Instead he'll settle for something else.

"Send out the Vultures, have them disable it. That ship is worth more than her life, I might add."

"Your star ship is also appraised at thirty million credits due to the technology onboard it. I'll be sure the Vultures don't damage it too much." TR-0 clicked off the com.

Dooku sank into his chair, gazing through the forward viewport as his own personal starship flew away with a pack of Vulture hunter-killer star fighters on its tail. This was going to be painful for him to watch.

Suddenly the gravity went away again, ripping him out of his seat as he was lost in thought. "Damn. That. Child!" He breathed harshly as he tried to get back into his chair…

Ahsoka cranked and turned the control stick as red blasts exploded all around her. In retrospect stealing Count Dooku's personal star ship was a bad idea considering that it was made by Geonosians, meaning couldn't understand half of the controls, and she had also managed to anger Count Dooku even further.

But still she made a good effort on not dying. Her luck didn't last long though as several lasers lanced the engine pod, bleeding smoke out of the back of the ship.

"Oh blast it all to Kessel!" She cursed as the ship began losing speed. The hyperdrive was out too, leaving her with only one option.

She shoved the stick forward and put the ship on a collision course towards the red planet bellow. Its sinister red glow was unnerving as she felt the distinct presence of the darkside all around it. Wherever she about to crash, it was better than being on the same ship as Dooku…

"My lord," TR-0 said from Dooku's side. "The meat bag is attempting to land on the planet. Shall I initiate an orbital strike?" It's head made a slight squeak every time it turned and there was a slight dent on its face plate.

Dooku collapsed his hands together and thought. "No, let her land. The ship must be disabled for her wanting to risk landing there." He leaned back in his chair, noting the pain in his sore back for only a moment. "Launch the expedition as planned. It turns out we'll be doing a little hunting along with recovering ancient Sith secrets."

"How exciting, this will be one productive trip indeed my lord." TR-0 said elatedly.

Dooku nodded in agreement. "Commence the landings on Korriban."

…

Dun-dun-DUN! Yeah, big surprise. Korriban and stuff. I honestly have no idea where I'm going with this story so I'm just throwing it out there as I go. It's really easy for me to lose interest in a story so don't be surprised if I suddenly disappear again.

By the way I love making references and stuff. First off, Heart of Darkness reference in the first sentance. I might base this story off it. Second, Jurrasic Park refference, see if you can find it. Third, Hk-47 reference which is an easy one to notice.

And there will be more soon to come.

Well thanks for reading and commenting,

Xander867