Author's Notes: Wow! Four reviews within 24 hours! You guys are well loyal! I'm glad you all enjoyed a bit of Sithly interaction – I find Sidious in particular great fun to write about; he's such a wonderful character. I think I owe a lot to Jude Watson's wonderful 'Maul's Journal' – if you haven't read it, do so, because the characterisation of Sidious is fantastic, and the book even manages to get you feeling a little sympathy for Maul when you read about his upbringing (or at least Watson's version). It's been an inspiration for my writing since I first read it.
I've recently revamped my entire 'Star Wars' website so that took up a lot of my time, amongst school work, hence why this chapter took some time. It's nothing major, but moves things along a bit. More Dooku-Padmé next, I think.
Ami: No doubt about Dooku being evil. Heh. ^_^ Keep reading.
PadawanMage: I'm glad you liked the word play – I just sat and wrote the chapter, and it just flowed so well! I really love writing Sidious & Tyranus together – they almost have a competition of words and wit going on. And as to what happened, I'm not going to tell you whether anything did or did not happen! I write the story – you read and interpret it how you like! That's the fun of it!
SKYwalker-Blue: Again, Tyranus and Sidious just came naturally to me. I think Tyranus would hold his own against Sidious because he's not the kind of guy, like Maul, willing to be second best – he is more Sidious' equal, though not quite. And I'm glad it made you laugh – it was meant to. ^_^ And I'm not telling you if anything happened or not – you read what you will from what I write, if you get my meaning. As someone once said (though I don't know who): 'It's not what the writer writes, but what the reader reads'.
Strider's Girl: Ah, 'Star Wars factfile' can be helpful in the most unlikely places! Are you from the UK then if you get it? Anyway, I'm glad you too enjoyed a bit of Sithly interaction – no butt-kicking again but, as you'll read, it's getting a little closer. I have something planned for Padmé soon that you may like…
Kalena: I bet this is a bit of a change from the mainstream Padmé romance! LOL. I'm glad you think mine's amongst the best. Many thanks!
Electra292: I think Padmé's upset anyway, never mind when she finds out the Count is actually the second Sith! ^_^ I'm very chuffed by your kind comments – I'm so glad that you've enjoy what I've been writing! It is twisted but it's a bit of a break from the norm. Keep reading!
BexMix: The 'hooking thumbs' thingy means that? Really? I didn't know! Though I suppose it does seem in place in some parts of my fic. ^_~ Heh. I'm glad you're enjoying my fic, and I understand all about being a student – being one myself, I can only churn one decent chapter out once in a while. I'm glad that you too enjoy my 'creepy' work, and, if I ever get to the end, providing you like dark ones, you should enjoy it! Keep reading!
Shadow-Angel: Again, thanks – I really appreciate your support!
Disclaimer: Still broke, so don't get any ideas…or lawsuits. ^_^
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"ECLIPSE"
Part 12
Anakin walked inconspicuously down the dully-lit aisles of the Jedi Archives. He ignored the persistent pain of his throbbing wound, his mind still buzzing over exactly what he should do next. The library was even quieter than usual; many Jedi had been lost on Geonosis for one thing, and more still were being deployed across the galaxies now that war was imminent. If the enemy wanted to use a divide and conquer strategy against them, then things were tilting in their favour.
Anakin came to a halt as he reached the golden bust of the final Jedi of the Lost Twenty, in the main hall of the Archives; it was his nemesis, Count Dooku. He scowled at the bronze likeness, his anger surging deeply within him, and, glancing to either side to make sure that no one's attention was on him, quickly spat at the statuette in odium. His saliva settled upon the sculpture's nose, and he watched with some crude satisfaction as it ran down the nose's bridge, and trickled round the channels of the face's folds. He was tempted to just run the figurine through, but, beside the fact he was still relying upon the use of solely his left arm until his right healed, he had no weapon, his last lightsabre having been lost in the factory upon Geonosis. He had yet to build a replacement – all in due time.
He turned his attention to the computer consoles that lined the central passageway of the Archives; as his eyes peered over them, he realised that there was only one Jedi occupying the entire space, Council Member, Ki-Adi Mundi. Anakin sighed, not quite sure exactly what he was planning on finding out here; he knew that knowledge was power, and he needed some form of knowledge in order to help him overcome his most recent foe, the Jedi traitor, Count Dooku. With the man having been a Jedi, there couldn't be any better place to research him and his past than here, in the Jedi Archives; whether there would be any records of any use in these files was another thing, however.
"Anakin Skywalker? My, it's a miracle! Have you actually come to the Archives willingly?"
Anakin paused, his train of thought interrupted; he turned about on the spot and met the eyes of Jocasta Nu, Archive Librarian. She smiled at him light-heartedly, and paced to his side, "I remember the trouble poor Master Kenobi used to have in dragging you in here as a youngster," she reminisced, "Yes, you were quite a stubborn one. But forgive me, ranting on like this – is there anything I can do for you?"
Anakin made her a brief smirk in response, saying, "I'm here because I feel I need to be, Madam Nu. I need to find out more about my enemy. I was hoping the Archives would help."
"They may be able to, young Skywalker," she said, "What 'enemy' is it of which you speak? The Trade Federation? We have stacks of files on them; or maybe the Commerce Guild? That's another corporate sector upon which we have a wealth of data."
"No, Madam Nu," he replied quietly, "I'm talking about one who was once one of our own." He paused and gestured briefly toward the bust behind him; "I'm talking about Count Dooku."
Nu looked at him, and seemed to vacillate slightly, so Anakin took this opportunity to continue, "Though you have been polite enough, madam, to do me the favour of paying no heed to my arm, I know that you're as aware as any that it is a painful injury which I'll bear for the rest of my life; and you also know, as word has spread, that it was exacted by that man, Dooku."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Anakin," Nu replied, looking at his bionic arm with pity, "But I cannot show you data on that man. I appreciate your wanting to understand his mind, but, seeing as he still lives, most of his data remains confidential, and will do so for some time, even after his death. You can only find basic details of him on the universal database, and that will be of little use to you."
She sighed, adding, "Though I doubt that you'd even discover much of any use to you in the main records, Anakin. He was an enigmatic man."
Ani nodded slightly, disappointed; he didn't see why Dooku's data had any right to remain confidential after he abandoned the Order, but if that was the Jedi's policy, then there wasn't a lot he could do to amend it.
"I am sorry to have made your journey a wasted one," Nu added, registering the Padawan's displeasure, "I'm afraid that only Jedi who sit on the Council or who have special permission can read the confidential files."
She tapped his left arm lightly in a comforting gesture, "But I beg of you, Anakin, to let the Council deal with the Count. I knew him as a Jedi; he was an obstinate man, fixed on his own objectives, and a powerful fighter, as you have regrettably discovered. Do not let yourself be shattered against such a rock."[1]
Anakin looked at Jocasta as she left him, feeling a little insulted; "It'll be he who is 'shattered' next time," he growled discreetly to himself once the librarian had disappeared down another aisle, "Mark my words."
Feeling that there was little use of him remaining here if all of the decent material was 'under lock and key', so to speak, he began to make his way out of the Archives; just ahead of him, down the hallway, Ki-Adi Mundi finished his work on his computer console, and, carelessly clicking-off the terminal, alighted and departed from the hall.
Anakin watched the Jedi leave as he continued to pace back down the hallway; as he passed the terminal that Mundi had just left, he realised that the Jedi – so encompassed within his own thoughts – had failed to log out of the Archival network properly. Anakin paused, his eyebrows swiftly rising as a notion burst forth into his mind; Mundi had failed to log out, and Mundi was a Jedi Council Member, and the Jedi Council had access to all the confidential files on the network, as Nu had just explained.
Anakin snickered, "Idiot," he whispered to himself, disgusted that any Jedi should be so absentminded. He quickly glanced about the halls again, making sure that Jocasta Nu wasn't sashaying about anywhere near him, and slipped down into the seat, going on to browse the restricted Jedi personnel files as quickly as his single hand would allow.
"I'm sure there'll be something in here worth knowing," he mumbled to himself as pages flashed across the flat-screen monitor, reflecting in his frenzied eyes, "There has to be."
Finding the 'Search' field covering the complete personnel archives, Anakin, with a certain satisfaction, typed in the following characters firmly:
'D' 'O' 'O' 'K' 'U'
Then, he hit enter.
The console took a few seconds to do its search before it brought up a list of hyperlinks to all of the past people, logged into its files, under the name of, or name similar to 'Dooku', listing their late rank, status and sex. Anakin skimmed over them all carefully:
Doku, Vanja – Knight – ND – Female
Dooku, Carandini – Knight – KIA – Male
Dooku, Serenn – Padawan candidate – DE – Male
Dooku, Serenn (II) – Master – OR – Male
Dooku, Xandra – Padawan Candidate – DE – Female
Dooyu, Gitte – Master – MIA – Female
His eyes paced up to the key for the meanings of the acronyms in the status column – obviously, his man was one of the three males listed: Carandini, Serenn (I) or Serenn (II); which one would depend on exactly what the statuses, attributed to each, meant. He started with Carandini Dooku:
"KIA," Anakin murmured to himself, reading aloud the meanings of the acronyms, "'Killed in Action'. I wish."
He scrolled about for DE, the letters appointed to Serenn (I): "'Denied Entry'," he stated once he found it; he mused over this for a second – the name likeness was too good to be a coincidence, suggesting that in the far past of the Jedi Order, other candidates of the Count's clan of 'Dooku' had indeed been offered up for Jedi training; "Why couldn't they have denied your entry?" he sneered toward the absent Count.
"So this means–" Anakin continued, deducing by trial and error that Serenn (II) was his man, "That this is you." He double-checked the acronym for the final contender: OR – 'Order Renounced'. Perfect! His man was found.
"Let's have a look, then," Anakin grinned, opening the file on the former Jedi:
'Name: Dooku, Serenn Mirozan Carandini
Species: Human
Sex: Male
Place of Birth: Serenno
Age of Entry: 3 standard years
Jedi Rank: Master (off role)
Master: Yoda
Padawans: Jinn, Qui-Gon; Vosa, Komari[2]; Sato,Tylana'
Anakin paused – besides the fact that most of these blatant facts were useless to him, his interest was captured by the names of two Jedi in Serenn's profile which shocked him as to their connection with him – Qui-Gon Jinn & Yoda.
"What is this?" Anakin growled in disbelief; surely this couldn't be true! Surely that evil man couldn't have been the trainer of Jinn, and surely Yoda hadn't trained this maniac – there was no way that a proper Padawan of Yoda's could turn out so maniacal!
He sat back, needing to reflect upon these points for a moment; he felt betrayed for some reason, even hurt, though he wasn't sure who or what by. It was something connected with these implausible pieces of information, nevertheless. And if apprentices trained by the great Yoda ended up becoming so vile, what hope was there for the rest of the Padawan body of the Order?
"Why didn't you tell me, Obi-Wan?" he murmured to himself; he had a firmer connection with the Count than he'd like to think: Dooku had trained Jinn, who had in turn passed his knowledge down to Kenobi, who had handed his on to him. In a way, they were almost family, sharing, not the same blood, but the same train of knowledge. And that thought alone made him wince.
Yet he felt that he deserved better than not to be told about it all; Kenobi couldn't protect him forever, and if things were the truth, then they needed to be disclosed; the Jedi Order had a habit of being hypocritical, and keeping controversial things quiet. Anakin felt that they didn't always have the right to do such.
Pushing aside this information (he'd confront Kenobi concerning this Qui-Gon & Yoda conundrum later on), Anakin went on to scroll down the screen, and glance through the main parts of Dooku's profile; "You must have some weaknesses…" he mused to himself, concerning the Count; there was information on Serenn's skills throughout life, of when he'd passed certain levels of training, and even a list of his offences during his time in the Order (and he had many of them, not really to Anakin's surprise).
Anakin wasn't sure exactly what he was looking for, but it had to be some facet of information that he could focus on, something that could be used against the former Jedi.
"Lightsabre skills," he narrated, "Specialist in Form II combat."
He sat back, staring at the screen blankly in thought, "Form II?" he sighed, his eyes hardening; Form II was a specialist form of combat, which focused on lightsabre-to-lightsabre duelling. It was no wonder that Dooku was such a good combatant considering now that he had been trained in this fine and intricate art. Anakin wished that Master Yoda had determined not to tutor his Padawan in this art those years ago – it would have saved them all a lot of trouble now; Dooku must have been a trusted and capable Padawan in his time for the great Jedi Master to have deemed him worthy of attaining a level in Form II. Anakin was almost jealous.
"Then I must train in Form II, as well. I must play Dooku's own cards against him, and come out on top. No, more than that – I'll master every lightsabre art, and I'll train harder and for longer than I ever have before! My arm will grow stronger, as will my mind, and then I will be able to destroy him and bring Padmé back to me!"
He breathed rapidly, taken over by a sudden frenzy and mad determination – he was potentially the most powerful Jedi ever; learning all forms of combat wasn't beyond him, surely. But training in just one Jedi art, let alone seven, took time; and he would somehow have to train himself – Kenobi was a Form III specialist, a master of defense, and wouldn't be too willing to coach him in the more violent Jedi Forms, especially after the recent battles. Not only this, but his severed arm was a real impediment – he wasn't sure when he would become finally become fully accustomed to his metallic limb.
Anakin sighed – he needed time, and he needed help.
Or maybe he could do without help? If he downloaded everything he could from the database now on each of the Forms, he could possibly start training himself – he had to begin quickly, and finding a willing coach was just another in a long line of obstacles that he couldn't be dealing with; he could do it, he knew he was capable. Therefore, if he went ahead in this vein, his only remaining dilemma was time; and there was no way around that.
'your patience has paid off'
Anakin knew that Palpatine had been right when he had remarked such – he'd gotten his first solo mission via patience and determination; he would just have to do the same again now, and persevere, train hard, and keep aiming toward his latest target. The wisdom of the Chancellor was unrivalled, even by most of the Jedi, in Anakin's mind; he consequently resolved to listen to the Chancellor's every judicious word; he'd lost faith in Obi-Wan on many occasions, and Yoda he'd now lost faith in, too; Palpatine seemed to be the only true voice left:
'You must make your decision now, Anakin: to fight against Padmé and the Separatists as her enemy, or betray the Republic, and myself, and remain her friend. It's not easy, my boy, I know, but we're living in a time of war, and there is no time for such irresolution'
If the Chancellor's words went once, they went again; it hurt, but, for now, Anakin decided that Palpatine was right – time for irresolution was over. He would remain loyal to the Chancellor and the Republic; he would not be Padmé's enemy, though – he would be her saviour, her rescuer, her liberator; he would win her back from the maw of the Confederacy, and the grasp of the Count.
"I will learn Form II and use it against you, Serenn; I will run you through and watch you fall, Serenn. Mark my words: I will destroy you, Serenn, and take back from you what is not, and never has been, yours. The look on your face, Serenn, of defeat will be a satisfaction to me forever. Yes – I'll remember that moment for eternity when it finally arises, Serenn," he growled, repeating the Separatist leader's name to himself at every opportunity, like a wicked incantation.
"I will kill you, Serenn. When the next time comes, I will be ready for you. And I will kill you."
Taken over by a mad frenzy and determination, his hands shifted quickly across the keyboard and entered into the 'Combat Form' archives, from which he would download all he possibly could on the lightsabre arts. If he had just resolved to delve deeper into Serenn's file of 'offences', however, he may have just found something more interesting and more useful…
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"'Perfidious Padmé'? Ugh, confound these holo' reporters!" Sola cried, switching off the holoproj' swiftly as another damning report concerning her sister's shock turn to the Separatists began to come on air in the news hour, "I can't believe what's going on! Where is Padmé?"
Jobal looked over to her eldest daughter from the dinner table, her eyes filled with the fears and anxieties that she knew also haunted Sola's heart; Jobal was Padmé's mother, Sola, Padmé's sibling, and the recent events that had seen the Republic thrown into civil war, and Padmé simultaneously disappear into a mire of speculation and rumour, was already taking a heavy toll on all members of the Naberrie family, at home on Naboo.
"I don't know, Sola…" Jobal sighed, shaking her head gently and staring blankly down at the table, "But I just pray that she's all right."
Also sat at the table were Sola's two daughters; Ryoo, six years old, was sat proudly at the table head, whilst Pooja, her four-year-old sibling, was sat round to her left. Though their immaturity made them numb to the true devastation that this latest predicament was causing the family, they nevertheless knew that something was not right, and that it had a lot to do with their aunty Padmé and her erratic political lifestyle.
It had been only a few days since Padmé had paid the family a brief visit, bringing her bodyguard, the young and handsome Jedi, Anakin with her. They had learnt of the danger she was in then, too. What had happened recently, however, had thrown them into a state of perplexity, for it seemed that Padmé's life wasn't in danger as it had been before, but that she'd made a most unexpected move, and changed sides in the political struggles within the Republic, transcending from loyalist to separatist. And, not only this, she'd also apparently signed Naboo to the movement of Count Dooku.
Sola put a hand to her forehead and sighed, "It's so unlike her, mum…why would she suddenly give in? She's worked so long and hard for the Loyalist committee – she wouldn't just give up, not after so long. I know Padmé better than that!"
"We all do, Sola…and, at the moment, I'm not sure who to believe. Rumours and slander are all over the press, and there's no way to tell the fact from the fiction until the Monarchy gives an official statement about what is going on. At the moment, it seems that even they don't know what's happening."
"It's just not plausible at all," Sola continued, walking to her daughters and sitting by Ryoo's side, "I know she'd be displeased about this rushed creation of an army, but surely that one thing wouldn't make her move to the separatists – especially not without talking it through with everyone first! Padmé wouldn't sign away the planet without asking the Queen!"
Jobal shook her head again, at an equal loss as to explain the goings on. It all seemed so strange.
"Something must have happened, mum. If Padmé's really signed some Separatist papers, then she must have had no choice – what if she's in danger, mum? What if-?"
"Oh, please, Sola, don't say such things…" Jobal asked her daughter, compassionately yet firmly; she couldn't bare to think of her daughter being in danger – she'd hoped that all of this peril had ended for Padmé when the blockade, some ten years ago, had subsided, but that had seemed to have been far from the end of things.
She sighed, lowering her head onto her hand briefly before turning to her daughter with a troubled look and saying quietly, "We just have to pray we hear word from her soon. We just have to pray…"
TBC…
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NB: Lil tributes to Christopher Lee & family, and also to the name given to Dooku by 'Sinister Papaya Fondue' in her fanfic, in the text. Not sure whether you've spotted them or not. ^_^
[1] Okay, I'll be amazed if anyone knows those words; it's from a book I've been recently reading, a favourite of mine, concerning a character Christopher Lee has actually played in a film adaptation of said novel. I've reworded it slightly, that's all, but it's a fine phrase that I had to use.
[2] Okay, check this out concerning Vosa from the Star Wars Databank: "Thus, it came as a betrayal that Dooku eventually denied her the chance to undergo the trials to achieve Knighthood. Dooku and others had noticed a growing infatuation in the young girl for her accomplished Master. This and other instabilities in her character prompted the Jedi Council to end her training". Sounds like me, the 'growing infatuation' and the 'instabilities' bits! LOL! And I made up Sato as a Padawan.