The Jedi shuttle maneuvered sharply for its landing onto the Chancellor's private landing platform at the Senate Offices.
Obi-Wan watched Anakin trying to look at anything but where they were going, he looked increasingly uncomfortable. On the platform was a rather enormous welcoming party of Senators, Holonet reporters, and an even more massive contingent of Troopers to take Dooku.
Plo Koon was there as well.
Anakin was trying to make himself small.
The whole thing was amusing.
Anakin was exuding nervousness.
Obi Wan laughed softly, almost silently.
Even after all of these years, Anakin could get still get uncomfortable in huge crowds and when put on the spotlight to talk.
When the shuttle touched down, Windu glanced in the direction of Kit Fisto.
His comrade nodded.
Palpatine, Padme, Anakin, Cadus, Dooku, Cody, Obi Wan, and Artoo all moved down the ramp towards the ever growing crowd of the welcoming party and arresting party.
Windu, Shaak Ti, and Kit Fisto stayed in the shuttle.
Obi Wan stopped, looking back at the three Masters. "Are you guys not coming along?"
"I have no time for politics right now." Windu said with his usual grim expression.
"I'll brief the Council on what all of you have told us." Shaak Ti added, keeping her eyes on Cadus.
Cadus nodded.
"Shouldn't I...Well, I mean...Shouldn't we be there, too?"
Kit Fisto smiled, knowing Obi Wan didn't like this environment. "No need, Master Kenobi. This isn't your formal report and we did not just return. Besides..."
Obi-Wan looked at the the swarm of Holonet crews clogging everything. He looked at how Anakin was almost frozen and Cadus wasn't inclined to move from the spot he had been in before.
"Someone known as the negotiator should be the one to speak. More importantly, I think Master Cadus and Anakin need you here. They are not doing too well with this huge crowd."
Obi Wan did note Anakin and Cadus both looked pained and overwhelmed.
"Very well then."
"Go meet your adoring public, Master Kenobi. And, help out those two before they are left behind to the melee of over zealous politicians."
Obi Wan laughed and waved.
He moved briskly to catch up with Palpatine, dragging Anakin and Cadus along.
"What are you two doing just standing in one spot?"
"Well, you know..." Anakin trailed off.
"I'm tired, hungry, and need a drink. I do not want a Holonet crew in my face." Cadus said bluntly.
"I'm kind of hungry, too. That battle took a lot out of me and rations only take me so far, you know that Obi Wan." Anakin remarked.
"Come over to my place Anakin. I'll cook something good." Cadus said.
"Sounds like a deal."
"You two are impossible."
"But..." Anakin trailed off.
"I am hungry." Cadus nearly snapped.
"And now we have lost the Chancellor in the melee of this whole thing. Come on, before we can't catch up to him and have to claw our way towards him."
They moved quickly as the Chancellor vanished into the crowd of Senators, and Dooku was swarmed by Clone Troopers, Republic Soldiers, and Jedi Master Plo Koon.
Kept in line with the Chancellor, he was forced to keep pace with his nemesis, Plo Koon, and the Holonet.
This is going to take a long while.
Obi Wan sighed, he was too tired to deal with this.
Jedi, Count Dooku, soldiers, and politicians all bunched together for pictures and stories.
They were going to be superstars now.
Fantastic.
The ramp lifted back up, the hatch cycled shut, and everything closed on the shuttle once Windu felt they were all inside and Dooku could do no harm, for the moment.
His imprisonment and where he would be spending that time would be discussed at a later, more appropriate time.
Kit Fisto's smile faded as he turned to Windu.
Shaak Ti kept her gaze out the window and on the Temple, not looking at either of them, her mind far away, and her thoughts even further.
"You wanted to speak with me, Master?"
Windu moved close to Kit Fisto's position by the window.
"I don't like certain relationships some Jedi have with the Chancellor, and..."
"And?"
"I don't want to say the second thing, yet...But, there is something between the Chancellor and all of them. Something new. I could see it with my ability. You were there as well. Somehow you are connected It reeked of the dark side. It was incredibly powerful and incredibly dangerous...But, at the heart of it was an unbearable pain, like a wound in the force..."
"A disturbance, maybe?"
Windu furrowed his brow.
"Is it what Cadus said? A Jedi Purge? Is it something you saw before? What do you want to do?" Kit Fisto could see something was really bothering Windu.
Windu looked towards the Jedi Temple, expression growing dark. "I do not know. We will consult with Master Yoda and the other Masters when we return to the Temple. I can't trust my judgement in this moment. Something has changed."
Feral spat on the ground. He was surrounded by an army, but it was an army of inferiors. An army of droids. Everywhere he looked he saw the minions of sith. He was a minion. They were mere rage monsters and brutes, given a sliver of the dark side's power by Sidious or Count Dooku.
The endless war against the Jedi and Republic across the battlefields of the galaxy was taking a heavy toll on them.
Now, Count Dooku was captured.
Without reinforcements that were trained in the ways of the dark side, they would be forced to retreat into the far reaches of known space or be wiped out by the Jedi and the GAR. Even worse, they would have to unconditionally surrender.
The lean Zabrak rose to his feet. He needed to say something. He needed to do something. He made his way through the pockets of droids. By the time he reached the entrance to the building where they were all to meet, the contempt he felt for his so called comrades and Masters was reaching a boiling point.
When Feral entered, Opress took one look at him and narrowed his eyes. Maul, Grievous, Durge, and Ventress all stood at attention, deathly silent.
"What is it, Feral?" Maul asked, getting right to the point.
His voice was calm, but his eyes were wide and wild.
"Have you seen what passes for our army out there? All of these blasted Droids and so few of us trained in the dark side! If this is all we have to stand against the GAR and the Jedi, we may as was well surrender right now. Count Dooku has been arrested by that Anakin Skywalker and is at Coruscant as we speak."
"We have an infinite army." Maul said patiently, but his tone told Feral to shut up.
"There are many worlds that join the CIS, and more will be assimilated in the near future. Besides, I've already sent our quarry back to the Jedi Temple...They will play right into our hands now, just as it was foreseen."
Feral found little comfort in the words.
Count Dooku had always been the backbone of the CIS, a man who had rallied the self interests of the richest beings and corporations in the galaxy to a single cause through the splendor of his words and promises. A man who could tame all of these sith warlords standing beside him.
But, now the man was defeated and broken.
A prisoner of the Republic.
Feral shook his head, scoffing. "I'm not one of Lord Sidious's fanatical followers or apprentices. I won't grovel and scrape before any of you, or Lord Sidious. I won't heap praise on the fool's head when I can see with my own eyes that he is leading us to our destruction!"
"Feral, that is enough. You will destroy the morale." Maul said, eyes fixating on his younger brother.
"You are speaking too much." Opress reprimanded.
If he were aware-he would have noticed the the holo-image of Sidious was right before him, though the cloak of Grievous secluded the smaller image from view, if Feral would have kept his head cool, he would have noticed.
"There's no morale left to destroy. We can't defeat Jedi and Clones with droids. We can't defeat them all by ourselves. There are just too many of them."
"Do you suggest that more dark side acolytes are needed?" Sidious asked, voice cutting through the air like lightning.
Feral immediately paled, going on one knee in a formal bow.
"You know what you must do now, Feral. All of you know what you must do despite what you may be feeling. You all knew that this day would come, what would happen to Dooku, and now it is time to move forward with our agenda."
"Of course, Lord Sidious. I just..."
He had chosen to follow Sidious with his brothers, and he wouldn't abandon them now.
But he couldn't sit idly by and watch as the CIS fractured.
He could not let himself be defeated.
"Speak, Feral."
"Lord Sidious. We face an army of Clones. An army of Jedi Padawans, Jedi Knights, and Jedi Masters. We can't stand against them without our own army that is trained in the dark side of the force to counter them at this point. Droids are only going to take us so far." Feral spoke once more.
"And more people would have to die by my hand. I will not have thousands of scavengers hording off of my flesh like some vultures. You will remember your place Feral, and continue to execute your duties to perfection. Do not let your emotions interfere." Sidious all but snarled.
"They could be a strong asset, perhaps. If we were to launch an attack on the Jedi Temple, for instance. There would be little they could do alone or together to stop us from razing it to the ground." Grievous ventured, coughing raggedly.
"Even the lowliest students trained in the dark side are stronger than half these so called Jedi Masters. Some of them are more title than any real substance." Opress agreed, knowing from history there were times it was so.
Sidious spoke calmly.
"Do not worry, we do not need to take such drastic measures. Perhaps in the past we would have to go take such measures to ensure our continued success, but that time is over, and we do not need to go that far. Everything is moving as it should be. The GAR is losing many and is spreading thin, as are the Jedi...We will move into the next stage, using Dooku's imprisonment to catapult it. The Jedi will be so wary of the Senate and Palpatine that they will make a bold move in time."
"We wouldn't have to do that if these two could have defeated their opponents!" Feral jabbed a finger at Ventress and Grievous.
Maul grabbed Grievous by the shoulder, stopping him from tearing Feral apart, and only let go when the Jedi Killer was hunched over in fury.
"You would have never bested Obi Wan Kenobi! He is a man of wiles! You haven't done so well yourself losing three whole fleets! Do not forget I can crush your skull! Your brothers are the powerful ones, you're just a weak little puppet! Count Dooku warned Ventress of Cadus's abilities, there was more to that battle on Naboo than just simple wins or losses." Grievous howled.
"Not that I need his defense, but he is right. Dooku told me more than once that my blade would not touch Master Cadus, and it didn't. I couldn't break through his defenses to score a single cut. What damage and wounds I inflicted on him came from using the force and my surroundings." Ventress added.
"I would have cut off his head, and as for you, Ventress...Look at you in your sorry state. You don't even have your light-sabers with you, they were taken apart and the crystals were destroyed by that Jedi Master Cadus. You make a mockery of the sith and dark side-you are not worthy to call yourself sith!" Feral raged.
Ventress stared at the floor, feeling a fountain of rage pour over her without restraint, starting from the tip of her head, filtering all the way down to her toes. She loosened her arm muscles, clenching her fingers, keeping Feral right in the corner of her eye.
"Feral...You talk too much. You are too hotheaded..." Durge said, his face shield distorting his voice.
Ventress put her fingers together. "Feral, you're lucky I'm going to forgive you against my better judgement."
Sidious spoke in a dark tone. "Settle this dispute so we can move forward. Time is pressing."
Ventress's hand stabbed into Feral's left shoulder.
"Feral! No!" Opress yelled, but he didn't dare interfere.
He could only watch in horror as Ventress stabbed ahead with her right hand, and sent it rocketing upward, not smashing Feral's left arm at the elbow joint, but taking his whole arm off at the shoulder with a surgical sweep.
Feral's arm flew to the side, his hand still clenched in a fist. He roared in pain, grabbing his gushing shoulder joint in pure agony. Blood gushed out once before the heat of Ventress's attack cauterized the wound and Feral did all he could not to fall.
She spoke in the sith language, going through an array of symbols with her fingers, and with a start, red lightning shot from her outstretched palms and disintegrated the limb.
"Damn you! Damn you! You bitch!"
Feral called his light-saber back to his hand and lunged forward. He could not see beyond the smoke that clouded his vision.
But, a shadow speared through that smoke.
"Feral! If you attack Ventress I will no longer have a reason to forgive you for your transgressions...Allow me to remind you..."
Sidious reached out with the dark side, his fingers curling into hooked talons, and a burst of pure power surged from his being.
Feral screamed, gripping his head with his hands, eyes clenched shut, his entire skull screaming like it was about to split. He smashed onto the floor like thunder and began to shake, gasping, convulsing, and foaming at the mouth.
Sidious relinquished his power.
It only took a few seconds for Feral to regain his composure. The furious look in his eyes was gone, replaced by the boiling fire of hatred and wariness.
Sidious continued on, paying no mind to the shaking Zabrak.
"For now most of the powerful Jedi Masters and Knights remain clustered on Coruscant. Our planned attack on Mygeeto will draw them out from the Temple. If we can draw all of them out-Masters Obi Wan, Yoda, Windu, Cadus, Shaak Ti, and the other powerful Masters and Knights, it means we can draw them out individually into conflicts in the long term by themselves. If we can get Master Yoda to leave the Temple once, we can do it again. This attack on Mygeeto will be a success. Ventress has done her part with Cadus and Dooku has done his part with Anakin...You, Grievous, will receive upgrades. Your current body has become a hindrance thanks to Obi Wan, but that will be fixed. I have a new body that has been created for you, one that you will most enjoy in the trenches of combat. Maul, you will also receive a pair of humanoid-cybernetic legs. You may discard those spider legs you have used since that day. Ventress, do not waste time in constructing new light-sabers. Remember, this is our final play, everyone must execute their tasks to absolute perfection. The Jedi grow more and more wary, and we must maintain our head start until it is too late for them."
Everyone gathered was reassured.
"I will send word to San Hill and Poggle The Lesser. They will hold things up in the Senate with Nute Gunray and Rune Hakko, and will eventually get Dooku released. The other benefactors will show their discontent. They will all help with an amendment which will be passed, that will see even more worlds joining the CIS."
But, despite the confidence in Sidious's words, there was hast.
Everything wasn't going according to plan.
He was going to have to take a risk if things didn't proceed as they should.
The risk was greater.
The reward was greater.
But, if it went out of control like he was anticipating it would, there would be very little reward in the long run and he may not even live to see one.
"In the long term...Prepare to go to Korriban and the forest moon of Endor. Two of you will go to Coruscant and infiltrate the Jedi Temple, you will then send two Padawan spiraling to the dark side without any restraint."
This caught everyone by surprise.
"A Padawan? What for?" Opress asked, curious.
Sidious only cackled, spreading out his talons and bearing his fangs.
"When the time comes, it will all be clear. As for the two Jedi Padawan and as far as they are concerned...We are going to strike the Republic and Jedi Order from two fronts. Internally and externally. They will have no way to ever recover from this, even in ten years they will still be staggering."
Maul grinned savagely, laughing. "At last we will have our revenge."
Coruscant, the galactic Capital, the Jedi Order, the entire city-scape, all of those trillions of beings, and everything else on the planet was going to be nothing but rubble beneath his boot.
For the first time in twenty five thousand years, Coruscant would go dark, and the twenty five thousand years of the decadent Republic system would be nothing more than an afterthought.
"And, why Endor?" Ventress asked.
Sidious grinned cruelly.
"We're going to wipe out the Ewoks. Genocide. We are going to mangle their corpses and mangle them while they are alive. We will force the hand of Cadus and Skywalker. We will force the hand of the Republic. If nobody does anything, those little fur balls will be squashed like the insects they are."
Feral smirked, imagining an Ewok's skull beneath his boot, slaughtering an entire village, and crushing their skulls. He knew about the little contemptible creatures, and truth be told he had been raring to launch an attack on the system.
"I want the Endor mission. That is mine. I will drench the land with their blood. The Republic will do nothing to help them, they are useless in their eyes." Feral's said, eyes shading with murder.
Sidious nodded.
The Ewoks would be little more or less than...Nothing...Just like they were right now. Nothing at all, not even a blip.
Maybe their furs could be sold and their meat used as a new dish for consumption. Maybe their fur could be used to make high end carpets.
"The planet is not far from our current location. Feral, head out with a military large enough to take fifty systems right now. Break them. Break their spirits. Crush them. Decimate them. They will be needed so we can further what Dooku uncovered for us on Rhen Var, and I want them without that lively spirit. Cadus has always been close with the Ewoks, we will see how he reacts to this...Along with young Anakin..."
Feral grinned.
He was going to enjoy this, he had a lot of anger to unleash, and a lot of hate to spew-even more now thanks to Ventress.
The Ewoks being so small and furry were perfect.
"It will be done. The Ewoks will be my trophies and decorations."
"Good. Very good. Show them no mercy. If the Jedi tried to do what they have always done with this...They will be hated overnight and the Republic...Will fall...Cadus and Anakin will no longer trust either."
Sidious's hologram cut out.