Ch. 3 Domination
A/N: For those of you who don't know, the Dark Reaper, which is mentioned in this chapter, is from the game "Clone Wars"
Anakin, Yoda, Obi-Wan, Mace, Padme, and Bail Organa were gathered in Palpatine's office as he told them the situation and about the plans for the Death Star. The most shocking part of it was that for the superlaser, Palpatine would require contruction droids to repair the remains of the Dark Reaper, an ancient Sith superweapon that Anakin had destroyed a little over a month after the Battle and Destruction of Geonosis. Palpatine had explained that given more time, they could've built a superlaser from scratch, but since the Vong invasion wouldn't give them that much time…
"Anyway," continued Palpatine, "I'd like all of you to meet two of the best commanders in the galaxy." He pressed a button on his desk and said into a built-in comlink, "You may come in now." The door to the office opened as its occupants turned around to see who the newcomers were. One was a tall thin man with brown hair and a narrow face that Anakin and Obi-Wan had seen before. The other looked like a human, except that he had blue skin and glowing red eyes.
Palpatine said, "Everyone, I'd like you to warmly welcome Commander Wilhuff Tarkin and Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo, whom I prefer to call 'Thrawn'." Anakin and Obi-Wan gasped at the sight of Tarkin and stared at him. Tarkin arched his eyebrow questioningly while Thrawn narrowed his eyes to glowing red slits.
"Is something wrong?" asked Palpatine. Obi-Wan exclaimed, "We met Tarkin on Zonama Sekot before it disappeared into hyperspace! He tried to kill us!" Palpatine replied, "Tarkin can be trusted now. Believe me." Anakin and Obi-Wan reluctantly backed into the crowd of the others.
Palpatine cleared his throat and continued, "Commander Tarkin secured a victory for us at Rodia and Commander Thrawn is new to the Republic. I learned of him after the Outbound Flight Project was destroyed. He was the one who did it. He's a tactical genius. I contacted him earlier and he agreed to join me. However, I've kept his existence a secret until now. Believe me, if anyone can help, it's him."
Suddenly, the comlink on Palpatine's desk buzzed for attention. The Chancellor picked it up, listened for a moment, then frowned. He looked up and said, "That was Republic Military. The Vong are moving against Kamino and Naboo."
***
"Yes, thank you, Warmaster," said Count Dooku. "I look forward to speaking with you again. Then, the villip inverted and broke the link with Czulkang Lah. Dooku leaned back in the leather chair of his luxurious suite on a world in the Corporate Sector and smiled to himself.
Then he tapped a button on his comm unit and holograms of Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation, Shu Mai of the Commerce Guild, and Wat Tambor of the Techno Union appeared before them. Shu Mai immediately asked, "What news do you bring us, Count? Were the negotiations settled during your communiqué with the Warmaster?" Dooku confidently replied, "Yes. In fact, they went much better than they had anticipated." "So it is settled then?" asked Nute Gunray. Dooku smiled replied, "Yes, my Neimoidian friend. The Yuuzhan Vong have agreed to form an alliance with us."
After a few more minutes of conversing, at a more relaxed level, Dooku deactivated the comm unit. And sat back, his brow furrowed in deep thought. Yes, the day had finally come. He had betrayed Lord Sidious.
***
Padme sat nervously in a chair aboard the Naboo Royal Cruiser as she headed back to her homeworld, escorted by two Naboo starfighters. Anakin had insisted on coming with her, and had told Obi-Wan that he was going to help direct traffic on Coruscant. Amazingly, Master Kenobi had believed his Padawan's ruse…or at least it seemed like he did. Anakin walked up from behind her and massaged her shoulders gently. "It's going to be okay, Padme. We won't let the Vong take Naboo," he whispered.
Padme whispered back, "I hope so, Anakin. I hope so."