III- The Will of the Force
If someone had been there to witness the duel, he would have seen two figures blurred by a combination of speed, a veritable cloud of floating objects that moved around one of them and a swift series of white flashes every time two lines of red lights held by both figures touched. The Force allowed both contendants to move so fast that seconds stretched into minutes, distorting their perception of time, but with his long experience Dooku estimated that his confrontation with Darth Sidious was moving into its fourth minute now. And in that time, he had launched two hundred and twenty fruitless attacks and parried or dodged over twice as many.
Despite himself, the Count had been forced to fight on the defensive, because Palpatine was younger and more powerful and, therefore, faster. He had even included Soresu movements in his Makashi, trading grace for enhanced defense, but he had realized that his old lessons in the Jedi Temple were more useful here than his Sith powers. The Sith Lords were aware of their individual advantage over the Lightsiders, the very idea of a single stronger opponent was anathema for the Sith, and that certainty of superiority was at the core of Sith dogma. The training of a Sith Lord focused in combat against many weaker enemies.
And, as Sidious was finding out with an exercise in frustration, against a strong enemy such a training was next to worthless. The Count was just too strong to crush him easily. Possible? Certainly, but only with a great deal of effort, particularly with his damnable Jedi knowledge. And if the effort was too big, then the outcome of a fight with Kenobi and Skywalker might become uncertain. And that was entirely too big a risk.
In the other hand, Dooku had allowed himself to harbour some faint hopes. He felt the growing frustration of Palpatine and he had seen the sweat that covered his enemy's face. Despite his proud words, the Sith Master had only a limited supply of power and it was clear that regenerating his hand had come with a very steep prize. Of course, the question was whether the prize had been steep enough. At the moment, the answer was no, by all appearances. Sidious' strikes still had the force of ten men, his wasn't slowing down and the ring of flying obstacles he had created with pieces of the destroyed battledroids still moved, reducing the windows Dooku used to attack, yet allowing the Chancellor to move without hindrance.
It was clear that the power expenditure of the former Jedi was a lot smaller and the trademark precision of Makashi prevented any form of waste, but even so he felt his energies dwindling too rapidly for his liking. In training or mock battle, he had never outlasted his master, so he didn't know the true extent of his enemy's power, just that it was vastly greater than his.
A warning of danger made him move his head to the right, allowing him to narrowly avoid being hit by a droid leg that had been launched from Palpatine's halo. The projectile crashed against one of the great windows, where a worrisome crack appeared. Dooku muttered from behind gritted teeth things that promised the Neimoidian builders a painful and short future. That glass was supposed to resist the direct impact of a meteorite, but apparently they had decided to cut expenses and hadn't installed the force-fields that would protect from impacts from inside.
The momentary distraction could have costed him dearly, for his former master jumped at the chance to renew his attack with increased speed in a series of powerful blows that almost demolished his defences. The Count needed every bit of his considerable skill to halt the onslaught. Even then he was forced to give more and more ground, until his back found one of the walls. Then, using as much power as he was able to channel, he increased his speed to match and even exceed his enemy's who was forced to retreat a couple of steps. Then, with a strong kick, Dooku finally found some breathing room.
Palpatine landed cleanly, after a complete somersault in the air, with the lightsaber ready to continue the fight. However, his renegade apprentice was in no condition to continue. The amazing speeds he had shown had left him panting and with his old heart beating too fast. Knowing that victory was now at hand, the Chancellor decided to savour the moment. He deactivated his blade and looked at his disciple with crossed arms, although ready for possible surprises.
"Impressive, most impressive. Particularly for an old coot that once was a Jedi. I marvel at my ability to turn you into something similar to a true Sith warrior and I wonder what would have been possible to do with young Skywalker. I fear that this question will haunt me for eternity, as your actions have robbed me of the chance of learning the answer," explained Sidious with a note of regret in his voice, until a very smug smile appeared in his face. "You are beaten and you know it. Do you yield? I might be clement."
"Never," cried Dooku, moving his stump towards his communicator. He had no choice but to press the general alarm button, that would summon several hundred droids and... More or less at this point, the Count's train of thought derailed when he discovered something extremely unpleasant. His belt and all its contents, communicator included, weren't there, probably severed in one of the strikes he had blocked only in the very last instant.
"Are you looking for this, my friend?" asked Palpatine, pointing at one of the many things in the field that even now protected him. A thing that Dooku recognized as his belt. "Surely you did not intend to use the same trick twice against me, did you? Really, you should know better with me. After all, I have been your master for many years now.
The Count didn't reply, but saw with a lump in his throat how the belt and the vital device vanished in a flash of blue light.
"And now that we have removed the distractions, it is time for the main course. You will beg for mercy, I assure you," promised Sidious, turning his left hand towars his exhausted enemy.
The intensity surprised the Count, but he was able to block the tendrils of light with his red sword. Barely. He could feel the murderous thirst that powered them and the evil will that guided them, both attempting to find a hole in his walls to strike and feed from his very soul. One step, another. And another one. Dooku advanced, fighting against the stream of dark power. If he continued advancing, he would be able to strike down Palpatine with his weapon and... Palpatine had put his own lightsaber in a pocket and raised his right hand to double the power behind his attack. The nobleman's resistance crumbled as a sandcastle touched by the rising tide.
However, Palpatine stopped almost inmediately. The duel was truly over and the loser was at his mercy, but he didn't want to kill him. Not yet. He was enjoying his victory after a disturbing number of setbacks. And he reserved a very special form of death for the traitor. The Jedi were approaching, yes, but he still had enough time to punish Tyrannus' insolence in a truly exemplary fashion.
"Your stubborn resistance has robbed me of many years of sport, Tyrannus. Now, I will reward you in another way. As Lord of the Sith, I declare you guilty of treason against our Order, vilest of all crimes, and I sentence you to die, fate of weaklings and traitors. Moreover, I deem you unworthy of being my apprentice and heir of the Sith tradition. I hereby strip you of all rank and right within the Order," announced Darth Sidious, using a rarely used formula that predated the Order created by Darth Bane. "Finally, considering the seriousness of your crimes against our beliefs and myself, I doom you to oblivion."
Dooku, weakened and in pain, hadn't paid attention to Palpatine's words at first, busy as he was attempting to stand without the wall as support. However, the last threat made him react. A cruel joy appeared in Palpatine's face when he saw the panic in Dooku's face.
"You will be forgotten. This galaxy will be mine and I will do my best to erase the memory of your very existence from it. The rule of the Sith will be eternal and from this galaxy it will reach the last reaches of the universe, but you will be only a forgotten ghost from a dead past. A nameless spirit that will disappear in darkness. And now I would like to explain you the way I intend to execute you...
The explosion of animal fury came with savage howling from the Count of Serenno that almost disguised the groaning of metal. However, Palpatine knew without turning that the throne-like chair he had used minutes before approached from behind with his head as target. It had been a mighty, but clumsy, effort. No subtlety, no delicacy. Stopping it with the lightest touch of his mind was child's play. After a few seconds it fell several meters away, with a great thud.
At the same time, Dooku sagged. The eruption had consumed the remainder of his strength and he was utterly spent. His well was dry now and he had no way to resist Palpatine's efforts now. Invisible hands lifted him, while others pressed against his throat, making him choke. Palpatine approached and looked his former student in the eye.
"As I was explaining, before I was so rudely interrupted, you are going to suffer a unusual death. Another one of Plagueis' many discoveries. He called it the Touch of Entropy, not a very good name, but back then the old man had a penchant for the melodramatic. Esentially, I will be a vessel for destructive energies and once I touch you, they will attack every single cell in your body, tearing down cellular tissue. Once they are finished, a pool of muddy water will be the only thing left of you. I am told that it is a rather fast death, as you will be consumed in ten to twenty seconds, however Plagueis wrote that the nerves are the last thing to disappear and that there is a feeling of exquisite pain associated with the destruction. He also stated that a connection with the Force increases the pain, although I do not think that he had the opportunity to test it with a traitor... I am curious. Farewell, Dooku of Serenno!"
And just when Sidious' hand was about to touch Dooku'sIt happened.
Every single Force sensitive in Coruscant and nearby worlds felt something moving in the Force itself and realized that something momentous was happening. In the end,It was rather disappointing in its smallness. Lexin Terrail, a young Corellian technician in the fire control center of a heavy turbolaser battery on boardthe RSS Shield of Tralus, a Venator-class Star Destroyer distant roughly thirty thousand kilometers from the Invisible Hand, pressed the wrong button. The direct consequence of this mistake was that the powerful weapon fired too soon to hit the chosen target, a TradeFed battleship. Terrail had no chance to regret his mistake, as the Shield of Tralus was destroyed by a full power blast from the main turbolaser cannons of a nearby Munificent-class frigate, killing Terrail and everyone else onboard the starship.
However, the almost invisible beam, harbinger of energies worthy of a small star, had already left. It crossed vacuum at speeds approaching those of light itself. And roughly one tenth of a second after being fired the beam impacted against the starboard side of the Confederate flagship. The shields, already weakened by hours of fighting, collapsed after absorbing most of the energy. But only most of it. The remainder was enough to violently shake the warship and trigger a number of explosions that destroyed some extremely important systems. Like primary impulse and the control of artificial gravity.
The giant ship fell plummeted towards the planet below and that had rather significative effects in all sections. In the bridge, the droid technicians fell on their command consoles, while General Grievous barked orders to correct the situation. In what was left of the hangar, something covered by a mountain of scrap started to beep in annoyance. In a turbolift, a couple of Jedi in a rescue mission were forced to make acrobatics when the ground became the walls.
In the viewroom, the two duelists had no time to prepare. Palpatine tried to keep his footing, his victim forgotten, but Dooku was powerless to stop his fall towards the windows. His dead weight dragged Sidious along and it was the would-be-executioner who took the brunt of the impact and was knocked unconscious. The victim-to-be realized that he had been given a last chance beyond all hope, seized Sidious' own lightsaber, activated it and with what little strength he had left drove it through the Chancellor's heart. Palpatine died instantly.
Palpatine's body... exploded. There was the best word to describe the burst of cold blue flames that bathed every surface in the room for an instant of blinding brilliance. When the flames disappeared, only a shrivelled husk was left. The empty shell of the mightiest Sith Lord to ever darken the galaxy. Dooku collapsed, utterly exhausted and in the verge of unconsciousness himself. He heard a weak voice inside his head, but before he was able to understand what it said, the darkness swallowed him whole.
At the same time, General Grievous regained control of his ship and all surfaces returned to their usual positions. In the viewroom, two inert bodies landed in the ground together and a blast shield extended to seal the window that had been pierced in the strike that had claimed Palpatine's life. And in a matter of moments, every Jedi in the galaxy felt that the blinding darkness retreated. The Dark Side was still strong, but the ruling will that had created the Shroud was no more. Just a handful of seconds later, two well known Jedi whose military exploits had appeared all over the holonet entered ready for battle. What they found left them rather surprised.
Notes: The other revised and (greatly) expanded half of the original second chapter. I fear that some of the descriptions are slightly beyond my skill to translate properly, so if you spot glaring mistakes tell me. And lots of thanks for all those who have commented. I am surprised and very pleased. Thank you all!
