Disney owns Star Wars. Apologies for the delay, but never fear. All snippets will be published in time for Xmas.

Dooku's Henchmen(788)

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On the Third day of Christmas, the Clone Wars gave to me—Dooku's henchmen.

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War has spread across the galaxy. The hour grows late as Darth Tyrannus, Count of Serenno, speaks with his Master, seeking council. Things are moving quickly now; the smog of war reaches out across the stars, enfolding whole star systems in its grasp.

Dooku sat at his desk, starlight silhouetting him and the empty hall stretching in front of him— a yawing dark chasm, illuminated only by the shimmering blue hologram of his Master and the twinkling midwinter lights that the droids had felt it necessary to festoon the entire estate with. Midwinter will be tomorrow, but for now, everything is business.

Dooku clasped his hands together. "…and what of the Zabrak brothers, my lord?"

Far away on Coruscant, his Master didn't reply, instead choosing to sip from a steaming mug. "I will deal with Maul and your animal of an apprentice. You need not concern yourself with their fate, Lord Tyrannus. It has come to my attention that our General may be becoming complacent again."

"Master, Grievous is simply restless. Surely with the latest developments—"

Sidious shot forward, hissing in displeasure and Dooku fell silent.

The Dark Lord of the Sith set his drink to one side. "That was sloppy, Apprentice. No detail."

"Yes, Master."

"I want that encryption module back. Inform Grievous that he will be commanding the offensive." Barely visible under the dark hood, one side of Sidious' mouth curved upwards. "A midwinter gift for the General." His lips straightened out again, pressing together in a thin line. "Make it clear that he is not to proceed until the module has been recovered."

Dooku bowed to cover his discomfort. It was an oddly elegant and refined gesture, considering he was still seated at the time. Even after all these years of service, Dooku still had no idea how deep or far-reaching Lord Sidious' intelligence network was. This was not the first time that his Master had managed to disconcert him with knowledge of events.

"As you wish, my Lord," Dooku said, "My spies tell me that Grievous has also been leaning on Poggle the Lesser for increased battle droid production; obviously the General has been listening to our own propaganda about battle droid numbers. With your permission, Master, I will ensure no further communication between the two."

Sidious' eyes gleamed in the dark recess of his hood. "Do it." The shimmering hologram reached to one side, his arm vanished as it reached the edge of the camera angle then reappeared with the steaming mug from before.

Dooku resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow. It was most unlike Sidious to multi-task during a meeting. "Tea, Master?"

"Mulled wine, Apprentice. I recommend you try some, part of the, ah, festivities." Only Lord Sidious could make festivities sound like another name for sewerage.

"Yes, Master."

"I am sending you to Raxus; the Parliament needs to be placated once more. See that you engage Bane's services again; I will have need for him. I have a midwinter gift for you also, Lord Tyrannus. Two new fleets of Providence-class ships await your orders—use them wisely. This war is coming to an end, but not just yet."

With that, the hologram faded away. Dooku let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding. He pressed a button on his desk and the lights came on, lighting up the vast hall. The door creaked and a B1 battle droid tottered obediently into the room.

"Sir?"

Dooku pushed his chair back and stood. "Prepare my ship for departure."

"But sir," the droid protested in its tinny voice, "your midwinter dinner is ready now."

Dooku paused where he was, one hand picking up his cape. Then he swept the cape up, clasping together as it settled around his shoulder. "It'll have to wait."

A pair of B1 droids watched glumly as the twinkling light of Dooku's sloop vanished into Serenno's atmosphere.

One of them threw up his arms in disgust. "Well that's just great! All that time spent preparing and Master just vanishes. We even went and found a midwinter tree!"

"Look on the bright side," the droid on the other side of the complainer chipped in. "We could be serving on General Grievous' flagship."

"Oh yeah!"

"Come on. Let's go get our servo motors adjusted. Four-Four-Seven said that there was even an oil bath down in Maintenance."

"What are we waiting for?"

The droids clanked off to take advantage of the amenities and the midwinter lull. Stars twinkled in the skies above them, millions of worlds hanging in the heavens. Peaceful. Undisturbed. And unseen by all but a gifted few, the darkness deepened further.

Prompt: Sith Santa Claus.

No idea why I always get the urge to write the villains when they are busy plotting. Maybe hinting at dastardly plans is its own addiction; goodness knows there've been enough hints dropped in the Season 5 trailers about what might happen in the New Year.

Dooku has so many henchmen, it was quite impossible to include them all. Plus it's more fun to peek at what Dooku's up to, so once more the prompt has been mangled beyond recognition. Hopefully, the story was still enjoyable :) Wishing you all a Merry Sith-mas!