Vader's Folly
Author's notes: Thank you for all the feedback! I appreciate it all :) Hope u enjoy this one as well. I was intending to update Raven's plan before this, but you can thank the Mandalorian season finale for this ;D No spoilers for those that haven't seen the episode yet :D;P Anyway, I am very gleeful as I post this ;D You'll see why:D;P
Don't forget to review! :D
Canon: I will be a using a mix of both the Disney and Legends canon. Mainly Legends.
Summary: An ancient site filled with ancient technologies, of course Dr Aphra can't resist playing around. The result, one Sith Lord with a lot of options.
Chapter 9
Tholme felt his consciousness returning slowly. He could hear a blip of a heart monitor next to his ear. It was both an annoying and reassuring sound.
And it confirmed to him that he wasn't in Dooku's clutches. The fallen Jedi wouldn't need a monitor to know if he was still alive. He opened his eyes and the sterile and drab brown green ceiling that most medical facilities seemed to favor greeted him.
"Hmm..." he started thoughtfully. How did I get here? The last thing I remember is Dooku dropping the roof on me.
"Glad to see you're back with us," a light female voice stated in welcome.
He turned towards the voice, the voice belonged to a smiling black haired woman with dark eyes. She was dressed in dusty t-shirt and a black sleeveless vest with matching pants.
"Where am I?" he asked stiffly.
"You're in Salis D'aar City Hospital, in the capital. I found you and brought you here...after I dug you out from that mess you were in," she replied with a carefree shrug of her shoulders.
Slowly, he sat up and scrutinized the woman that had rescued him.
"Who are you?" he asked, leery of this strange woman.
"I'm Dr Chelli Aphra, archaeologist by trade," the woman introduced herself, "and you Master Jedi?"
His eyes narrowed suspiciously, this far from the Core, and especially on Bakura, few would recognise him as a Jedi, "Jedi Master Tholme."
Her smile widened, "Nice to meet you, Master Tholme!" she said enthusiastically.
In the Force, the woman was all over the place, she seemed very enthused mixed with a great deal of trepidation. He stared at her suspiciously before asked his next important question, "Where is Master Bulq?"
"Who? You mean the other Jedi that was with you?"
He nodded without a word.
"Oh...yeah, sorry to say he's dead," she stated with a commiserating smile.
His eyes narrowed in suspicion, "He was still alive before I was knocked unconscious," he retorted stiffly. Bakura was a human world for the most part. Anti-alien sentiment was common here. Anti-Jedi sentiment was even commoner, thanks to their Cosmic Balance beliefs. Had she left him there?
He gave her a hard calculating stare. She didn't sound like a Bakuran, her accent sounded more like something from the core, with Coruscanti inflections.
And that only added to the woman's mystery.
Dr Aphra returned his long look, before stating simply."Last time I checked, even Jedi need their heads to be attached..."
Tholme felt himself sag unhappily, he closed his eyes. Goodbye Master Bulq. You will be missed, he thought unhappily.
Opening his eyes, he found Dr Aphra studying him.
"Thank you for saving me," he thanked her gratefully. Dooku had left him for dead, he would have died if not for this woman. Whoever and whatever she wanted, that was the only certainty here.
She gave him a big cheesy smile, "You're welcome. Always glad to be appreciated," she replied cheekily, "You know, I've always wanted to meet a Jedi, I've studied your Order extensively. Never had the chance to meet any of you," she continued with a smile, "I'm still happy to meet you- even under the circumstances."
Tholme looked at the woman. The woman was conundrum. His suspicious mind wondered what exactly she was really after, she didn't seem the type to help out of the goodness of her heart. He'd known enough scoundrels and smugglers in his life to recognise her type.
"Hmm. And what exactly do I owe you for this rescue?" Tholme asked, cutting right to the heart of the matter.
Aphra's smile grew even broader, "I am so happy you asked that. It just so happens that I am in need of a lift back to Coruscant...and I do seem to be a little strapped for credits at the moment..." she trailed off pointedly.
"Hmm," the avarice of some people was predictable, he nodded in acquiescence. "That is not out of the question, I am grateful for your help. A reasonable amount of credits can be arranged for you...once I return to the Jedi Temple."
"Excellent!" she clapped her hands together and rubbed them gleefully at his acceptance, "Oh! That's brilliant! It'll give us time to talk about the Sith that showed after you were knocked out! I'm sure that would be worth another reasonable credit amount as well," she casually stated.
Tholme started to nod his head before her words caught up with him, Sith Lord?! Fight after he was unconscious?! What in the name of the Force was she talking about?
"What? What fight?!" he spluttered in surprise, sitting up properly in the hospital bed and giving her his undivided attention.
She leaned forward, enjoying the surprise that she had sprung in him, smiling gleefully, "We have so much to talk about..." she stated in a sotto voce voice.
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Vader could feel the pain coming off of Dooku. Triple Zero had done well. There was always a threshold of pain that interfered with a Force users ability to use the Force, but it differed in each individual. And Triple Zero had excelled at keeping Dooku beyond that threshold.
And then Vader himself had reached into Dooku's scrambled mind to tear out all that he needed to make Palpatine roar with impotent rage.
The security codes for the Separatists secure comm net was his, the secret locations that during the Clone Wars would made Rex smile gleefully as he imagined how much damage could be done to the Seps, the secret accounts that only Dooku knew about...and so many other hidden secrets...
He smiled gleefully under his mask, so far everything was going according to plan.
Dooku was glaring at him, his eye unfocused by pain, but filled with hate. The other eye was a bloody and empty socket...he was scarred and mutilated now, Triple Zero had been very through. And Vader hadn't seen a need to stop the murderous droid from permanently damaging Dooku.
The left eye had merely been the droid's first act. Dooku was a shadow of the man he been before. The left arm ended above the elbow. The left foot was missing, spikes ran through, front to back, his left thigh, a low electric current constantly being run through it.
"M-my master...w-will not stand f-for this," he growled angrily, "H-he will c-come for y-you. A-and m-me."
"You overestimate your value to him...and the time you have left," Vader finished with a dark chuckle.
Dooku sneered back at him, growling angrily, "I-I...will...escape. And then,...y-you will pay...for e-everything."
Vader was unmoved, even as the Force flared in his mind.
Images of an escaped Dooku, returned half cyborg, a red glittering eye matched with his remaining organic eye, flashed in Vader's mind's eye for a moment- but it was only a moment.
He had everything he needed from Dooku. There was nothing else he needed from him.
He felt the Force shift as he reached out and without fanfare snapped Dooku's neck.
Crack.
Dooku's path ended here, there would be no more from him. This was the end. Just like Maul, his path was ended. He would not return to spite them.
Vader thought of all the times he faced off against Dooku, all the taunts, all his goading. And now...
Dooku hung bonelessly in the force field that had been his prison. Dead and gone and no longer a threat...or of use to anyone...
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Palpatine paused in mid-sentence for a moment before recovering flawlessly as Dooku's death echoed through the Force. It took all of his self control to not react in the middle of the Senate hearing he was overseeing as as he continued speaking about some banal thing about the taxes on some unimportant system between the mid-rim and the inner-rim. There was a war going on that he had orchestrated and yet these morons still continued to think about such unimportant and meaningless things.
Soon enough, they'd all know their place.
He finished his denial of the request and managed to put a placating, sympathetic smile on his face as he sat back down in his chair, as the Senate Chamber erupted into applause, mixed with mutterings from those that were split on the issue.
He continued fuming silently, without Dooku who would he have lead the Separatists? Grievous was needed on the frontlines, and in any case, he was a blunt instrument of war. Not the confident politician Palpatine needed as the head of the Separatist Confederacy.
And worse yet, young Skywalker was was not ready to take his place at his side yet. He mentally grimaced, soon he would be...but not yet.
War had started, and it was one damnable setback after another!
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Obi Wan Kenobi stood before the Jedi Council, the Separatists weren't being idle, a number of worlds were already under siege in the aftermath of Geonosis. The recent Hutt attacks on the Trade Federation had grabbed their attention. They had been flooded by reports of bombings, assassinations, ship raids and every other form of violence the Hutts were famous for...and could pay for.
They weren't holding back anything either, from what sources the Jedi had in Hutt space, they knew that the Hutt Cartels were all mobilising. The Hutts had cavernous pockets and they didn't seem to be skimping on anything at this time. A massive unified Hutt military response was in the making and the Jedi did not know why.
Even if it was coming out in favour of the Republic.
Any attack on the Trade Federation weakened the Separatists. Their only qualm was that the Hutt were not concerned with collateral damage. Civilian causalities were already high and climbing with every Hutt attack.
Soon, he expected he and Anakin would be sent out against the Separatists, while a diplomatic overture would be sent to the Hutts. He expected someone much more senior than him would be sent on that mission.
The discussion at hand was circling around and around, about the Hutts' motive in all of this.
Obi-Wan was listening attentively, waiting for their command.
He felt it in the Force first, one minute Master Yoda was paying attention to the reports...and then he was staring away, his ears drooping. The old master suddenly seemed to look his age now, ancient and weary.
Master Ki-Adi-Mundi had been speaking, but he trailed off into silence as he looked at the distracted Grandmaster. The other masters shared concerned looks but remained silent, not wishing to disturb the Grandmaster's thoughts.
Master Yoda sighed deeply, "Dooku...dead he is. In the Force, his passing, I have felt," he stated mournfully, "Much pain, much regret..." he trailed off shaking his head. He frowned and his eyes narrowed, "More at work here, then we can see. More turmoil in the Force I sense, the Dark Side clouds everything," He shook his head again still greatly disturbed by this turn of events, after a moment he looked up sharply at Obi-Wan, "Ready for duty, your Padawan is?"
"Yes, Master, Anakin has been cleared by the Healers," Obi-Wan quickly replied.
"Good. Soon, a mission we will have for both you," Yoda stated cryptically.
Obi-Wan knew a dismissal when he heard one, "Of course Master," he bowed deeply and left the Master Yoda and the Council to their discussions.
There was much he needed to meditate on, first and foremost, who had killed Dooku? At least Anakin would welcome this news. He would see it as good news, though whether or not it truly was good news, was something they would see in the coming days.
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Triple Zero dragged away the broken remains that had been once Count Dooku of Serenno.
Vader watched silently. Contemplating his next move. He'd felt the disturbance in the Force after killing him. He'd felt time shift in the Force. They were on a new path now, his plan was truly moving forward now.
He took a deep breath, his list was getting shorter now, he would continue striking at Palpatine's lesser minions as the greater ripples spread out from here. Palpatine would know that he'd lost his apprentice. His figurehead for the Separatist Threat. He'd be reeling now, running to find another minion to replace Dooku as head of the Separatist Confederation.
And off the top of his head, there was no one that had Dooku's versatility-
"Ah so you're the one who did this," a cultured, annoyed voice came from behind him, cutting off his line of thought.
Vader whorled around towards the interloping voice, his called his lightsaber to his hand, igniting it, blade pointed towards the interloper. He found himself face to face with a tall brown haired man in black robes, with a self assured smile on his lips. The man stared at him...with yellow Sith eyes. They eyes were filled with curiosity, annoyance and something that Vader didn't recognise.
The eyes flicked down to the red blade held towards him, unbothered by the threat. He pointed at the blade with a finger.
"That's not going to hurt me," the man stated simply, before passing his pointing finger through the blade. The finger and then the whole hand passed through the blade, "I'm not really here...or rather I think I am- but I'll get to that in a moment." The man looked away and around the room they were in, taking in the torture area that had so recently been occupied by Count Dooku, "I see you're not afraid of getting your hands dirty, it's good to see I was right about that. Not that I imagined you otherwise, everything you've done in your life paints a very clear picture of how take charge you were in life, Lord Vader."
Vader glared at him from behind his mask, he lowered his blade and demanded, "Who are you? What do you want?" Whoever this Sith was, he was powerful enough to cast his image across massive distances, and how did he know his name?!
The man smiled at him without a worry in the world. He bowed with a regal flourish, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Darth Caedus..."
Author's Notes: And now canon really goes out the window!:D ;) ;P When this idea occurred to me, my old and original plot for this fic got thrown out the window :D
As always, don't forget to review! :D