Chapter 9—Skywalker's Padawan

Count Dooku hadn't had much trouble boarding the ship. Sidious had given him the codes, how the Dark Lord of the Sith had known those codes was not a mystery that the Count needed to dwell on.

He felt no guilt about what he would soon do. Waving his hand he opened yet another door, this one led to the bridge. It's empty? For a moment he was confused, then he realized, Ahsoka has been taught by Skywalker, the last thing she'll be doing is huddling in the bridge, no, instead she'll be out there defending her troops. He should have realized that sooner, however. With a sigh he turned and stalked out of the room, his assassin droids followed suit. As he walked down the corridor, he reached out with the Force, trying to locate the Padawan. There she is. Just as he'd suspected, she was in the thick of the fight. He could even take his time getting to her; she wasn't going to flee without the clones. The Jedi have such foolish compassion for clones, it's what gets them killed. Their progress was slow getting to Skywalker's Padawan. So many clones giving their lives to defend the Republic. But the closer he came to Tano; the more he sensed that the clones weren't giving their lives for the Republic, as much as foolish attempts to save their Commander. And loyalty kills the Clones, he mused.

It took him and his assassin droids awhile, but eventually he came to the whirring green blade that was Skywalker's student. She held her blade in a reverse Shien style, he'd never really fought the girl before, or even met her. But she was as the holo had shown, though the holo' hadn't quite managed capture the life that stormed around her. Perhaps she will be a challenge to kill after all.

"Ahsoka Tano, I presume?" At his words, the battle droids she was fighting turned their focus on the clones, who were already struggling with the droids they were taking care of. The young Togrutan spun around, he had expected fear to color her eyes when she saw him, and he was disappointed to find mirth instead.

"Count Dooku is it?" she gave him a toothy grin. "Did you know it's possible to meditate while fighting? In fact, I find it easier than when sitting." Sweat gleaned off her orange skin, "And I know why you want me dead."

"You do?" Count Dooku could hardly contain his surprise, she couldn't know.

"I also know who the Sith Lord is." She taunted.

"Oh?" the Count supposed she must be bluffing. He activated his lightsaber, hers was already on. He took a swipe at her, aiming for her feet, she blocked it easily.

"Oh yes." She laughed, and, breaking away from their fight for a moment to stop a clone from being shot, she met his next attack. "You want me dead, so that my Master will turn to the Dark Side." She mocked, "But although I have no intention of dying," she swiped at him in a flurry of quick jabs, "I've every confidence that even if I do fall, he won't turn." Count Dooku barely blocked the jabs, and then returned them with well aimed swipes.

"It's difficult for me to believe you're Skywalker's Padawan." He muttered. Tano laughed, and then pouted.

"Oh, did I guess wrong?" she gave him a mock-sad look then leapt away from their fight to again save a trooper from a laser blast.

"No, on the contrary dear," he swung horizontally at her torso, which she blocked whole-heartedly, "you guessed right, you seem to have much better powers of observation than your predecessor." She aimed her lightsaber for his throat; he met her weapon not an inch from its target.

"Don't you want to hear my other theory?" she smirked, and her eyes glowed with enthusiasm.

"Ah, yes," he blocked a well aimed swipe at his own torso, "you believe you know who the Sith Lord is." Their lightsabers locked together, and she pressed her face close to his,

"Chancellor Palpatine." She whispered quietly, an almost sad look on her face. The Count was taken aback, How does she know this? The Council doesn't even know… he challenged her with new vigor. She met his attacks easily, "Aren't you curious about how I know?" she almost purred, She's fought Ventress a lot, hasn't she? The thought crossed his mind, and then just as quickly he dismissed it.

"So tell me." He challenged, the Togrutan shrugged and then smiled sweetly,

"I'm surrounded by so many important people, so I am ignored; I see what they do not want me to see." She said it so quietly, so sadly. Her attacks however, were not sad.

Why is she telling me this? He wondered, and then he realized, She wants to make herself too much of a hazard to keep around. She isn't certain that if she loses I'll kill her, she doesn't want to be made a bargaining chip. Because that would send Skywalker to the Dark Side. But by telling him what she had told him, she had sealed her fate.

They fought on, jab, swipe, block, it was a fight to see who would falter first, and that person was Ahsoka. He struck at her torso and she was unable to bring down her lightsaber quick enough, his blade cut into her stomach. Her eyes went wide with shock, and as the pain showed on her face, her aimed several cuts on her arms and legs, which she failed to block. She fell to her knees, her lightsaber fell from her limp fingers. He summoned her lightsaber to his hand, and crossed the red and green blades at her throat.

"Its irony Count" her words made him pause before her struck the final blow, "that you and I have something in common; we're both pawns in a much larger game." Count Dooku took off her head.