Obi-Wan walked beside Anakin up the steps of the temple. In the distance, there was silence. Not for centuries had Coruscant shut down so completely, the dim sound of sirens only establishing its emptiness.
But the temple stood yet.
Anakin tapped his hand against his side. "What will they do with him?"
"Under normal circumstances, the senate would determine his fate. Until it can reestablish order, the Jedi have some control." Obi-Wan knew that he did not answer Anakin's question. There was so much that Anakin suddenly realized he did not know. To hear more uncertain things would do no good. As Obi-Wan approached the council chambers, he frowned. To give voice to such things could harm as well.
The masters of the council were his colleagues, but there was always a distance. When he was a child, training in the lower levels, his master solved the crises of a different time. Now the stories that made up their lives had lost that bravado of youth. Now everything felt like an ending.
And Dooku had been a part of it all. His master's master. Guiding him, mentoring him. A mentor to Qui-Gon. He must have been powerful. He must, somehow, have been wise. Wiser by far than Obi-Wan, and yet Obi-wan was so confident of his beliefs. This idea of a corrupted, better man was no comfort to him.
As they came to the doors of the chambers they saw him. He had been dressed in simple black fatigues, his arms shackled in heavy metals. Above these, as well as above his feet and around his neck, bands of fabric and tech hung. Two knights flanked him on either side.
"Master Kenobi." Dooku said. "You should be proud of your apprentice. Few are as quick as he is."
"A prodigy." Obi-wan said, walking into the council chambers.
Twelve chairs marked the chambers, spaced into a circle. There sat the veterans of bitter wars and more bitter peaces. As though they were mortal men, there sat the Master Kit Fisto, the savior of Mon Calo. There sat the stony one-eyed Ki Adi Mundi, master of three styles. Mace Windu, the originator of Vaapad and the Blade of Geonosis, whispered into the ear of Master Yoda. Yoda, seemingly feeble, commanded the room. He moved slowly and spoke quietly, but there was no one there who did not sense his power.
There was an electricity in the air, a crackling hum, as Dooku was lead in. A few glared, a few frowned. A few did nothing at all. Through the window, smoke still rose from the archives and the senate building, and the fiery debris of ships were soothed. Coruscant had had many architects, but only one man who could be its destroyer.
Mace Windu spoke. "Count Dooku. You have been charged by the senate with treason and with murder."
"I am not guilty."
Windu paused a moment, pushing something back. "I… the Jedi Council is not the senate. When it reforms, evidence will be laid out. You will have a team of barristers and very convincing testimonies. After you are found guilty, you will either be imprisoned for the rest of your life, or you will be sent to a military tribunal which will decide the method of your execution." Fisto frowned at this, and Mundi turned his gaze back to watch him. "Do you understand this?"
"I do." Dooku said. "Nevertheless, I am not guilty."
"This is what the senate will do. The Jedi Council is not the senate. There is only one charge we will be investigating. You can delay them for years, but our—"
"I admit, I am a Sith."
Windu glanced back at Yoda, as if to confirm that he had predicted this farce in the chambers.
"I am a Sith. The man you know as Chancellor Palpatine is my master. His true name is Darth Sidious. For the past decade, I have aided him in undermining the Republic and destroying the Jedi Order. In his service, I have killed many and incited treason on a thousand worlds. Your laws can make me a criminal. They cannot make me guilty."
There was silence in the chamber. Obi-Wan shuddered. This was not the way this should have gone. And in the absence of other voices, Dooku continued. "You know this, I am sure. Since Master Kenobi and his padawan detained me, I have given you the location of a holocron proving all of this and much more, information that could win you the war. And yet you bring me before you. Is it to chastise or to shame me? I'm sorry, young Master—"
"That's enough." Windu said.
"—but when I surrendered my body, I did not surrender my conscience."
"That is enough." Windu stood, and when he was on his feet he realized he had nowhere to go. "I warn you Dooku, do not make a mockery of these proceedings."
Ki Adi Mundi scrolled through a datapad. "Approximately forty minutes ago, the section of the archives which you alleged contained this information was wiped. You have no means of substantiating your grandiose claims."
"But that's not true." Anakin said. "Master Kenobi and I saw the Chancellor use the Force. He is a Sith lord."
"You should listen to young Skywalker." Dooku said. "If it is not clear now, it will only become more so. I admit, it is unfortunate that you could not recover the data I gave you in time— one would expect the Jedi more capable— but I have stored other caches of information on several other worlds."
"Where?"
"There is one on Galidraan, one on Utapau, two on Mygeeto, one on Alderaan, and two on Serenno."
"You will be debriefed, and then once we have verified this information, the senate will take your contributions into account."
"I think not. You will not learn more about the whereabouts of the caches until and unless I show them to you, personally."
"That is out of the question."
"You may deliberate, if you wish. I'm not going anywhere."
Windu nodded, and Dooku was escorted out.
"This is a travesty." Ki Adi Mundi said. "A mockery of the Jedi way. We should never have allowed a Sith— and a fallen Jedi, mind you— to profane our chambers in this way."
"Disrespectful, he is." Yoda said. "But the truth, he speaks."
"Even if these caches exist, and even if he gives them to us, he is too valuable a prisoner to allow to go free, even for a moment. He is the leader of the Separatists. Without him, this war is as good as won."
Plo Koon, veteran of the Hyperspace Wars, breathed deep, his rebreather mask choking. "Remember that the Republic has just lost its head as well. I do not think we can rely on their collapsing any more than us, and remember that they can strike far behind our lines. Could we attack Serenno as easily as they just attacked Coruscant? Even Cato Neimoidia is out of our grasp."
Mundi sat even more rigid. "Of course we should have expected you to apologize for him, Plo. You always have."
"It is little surprise that you want to reject him, no matter the cost to the Republic."
"That's enough, both of you." Windu barked. "Master Kenobi, Skywalker, you captured Dooku. Do you think we should allow him to be part of the group that recovers the caches?"
"Master Windu, such an idea troubles me." Obi-Wan said. "We do not understand his motivations. Once, he was a Jedi, once a Sith. Now, he is something else."
"I disagree, Master Windu." Anakin said. "Dooku is a tyrant, but he is true to himself. He can be trusted to defend his interests, and to avenge betrayal by his master."
"Thank you. The council will deliberate on this." Obi-Wan and Anakin bowed, then stepped through the door. As Obi-Wan turned back, he saw the coiled worry of Mundi and the bitter vigor of Plo Koon. More than that, he saw the tire in Yoda's face. He remembered that Yoda had been Dooku's master.
