Chapter 3

General Grievous stood on the bridge of the Star Ship Justice's Hand, hands folded behind his back, staring out at the war that was violently raging outside. His eyes shifted from each destroyed fighter to another, only now realizing how heavy the losses were. As he heard the light metallic padding of droid's feet, he swept around, an almost weary look in his features. But droids weren't made to be tired. They were only made to do a job. And right now, Grievous' job was to kill Dooku and Vader. So, when the group he had ordered to capture his enemies returned, he would be at the top of his game. He would feel no emotion as he killed them. No fear. No hate. No regret. No love. Droids were not made to feel. They were made to get the job done.

The moment he was lead onto the bridge, Darth Tyranus knew there was no threat. He could feel it. So enveloped in the dark side was he, that every movement, every breath, every blink, was noticed by the Count. The dark lord knew he would win, when the inevitable battle started. So, as the old Sith, Emperor Kenobi and Darth Vader were forced to step closer and closer to the large hulk of metal that was General Grievous, he did not fret. But neither was Dooku cocky, or ignorant, or joyful, or depressed. He was simply…himself. Darth Tyranus. Count Dooku. Dark Lord of the Sith. The destroyer droid behind him pressed its arm canon against Dooku's back, pushing Tyranus, Vader and the Emperor right in front of the hunk- of -junk Grievous. The General stared at them for a moment with evident disgust, and then spoke.

"At last… Darth Tyranus and Darth Vader! Finally we meet! It will be something of a pleasure to kill you both." Exclaimed the droid.

A battle droid walked up and handed the General two objects. Grievous looked at the objects, and then placed them in either hand.

"Let me rephrase that…" growled the General, "It will be something of a pleasure to kill you both with your own lightsabers!"

Two blades of blood red erupted from the fists of the droid, and in one graceful swing, Grievous swept one of the weapons towards Dooku's face. No man could have dodged the blow. Luckily, Sith Lords were not just men. They were Sith. As the saber came rocketing towards his face, Dooku used a simple trick, a small twist of the Force. Manipulating the Force, the Count reversed the inner mechanisms of Grievous' hand, causing the General to release his hold on the sabers. Vader reached and grabbed both. He handed one to Dooku and the fight was on. Vader ducked and swung, chopping the legs off a nearby battle droid.

"Emperor! Find some cover while we deal with the General!" yelled the Sith, swing around and neatly clipping off a destroyer droids' arm cannons.

Dooku leapt through the air, landing on a super battle droid. It waved its arms, wildly trying to get the Count off. Tyranus plunged his blade deep into the SBD's head, which ended in a large electrical malfunction on its part. Tyranus was flung back, but he landed nicely on his feet, and started blocking a pair of regular battle droids.

"Well then!" the Count grunted at Vader, "I don't suppose you have a plan to get us out of here?"

Vader rolled closer to Dooku, slicing two petrified Nemoidians in the process.

"Oh no, Tyranus. I have a plan to get us out of here." He replied.

"Alive?"

"Oh, when you put it like that, no."

Count Dooku sighed. Vader never ceased with his dry wit. Once again, it seemed the older Sith had to save them both from sure death. He took the time to glance around the room, hoping to spot Grievous. Sure enough, he saw the General standing behind a computer console.

"Gotcha..." whispered Tyranus.

He finished off the last of the attacking droids on his side, and then turned around to see how Vader was doing. The Chosen One was in the business of stabbing a destroyer, which Dooku saw as the last droid in the room. Well, almost last droid. The Sith Lord ran, landing right on the glass floor, stopping the Rebel Droid in his path. Before either of them could say a word, Vader suddenly appeared behind Grievous.

The General was trapped.

"I'm not one to gloat, but this situation seems appropriate." Spoke Dooku with a half smile.

Grievous stared angrily at them, and then picked up a fallen blaster.

"You may have one this round, but you have not won the war!" yelled the Rebel, firing at the glass view screen.

"Hold your breath!" roared Vader, at Dooku, the Emperor, and probably himself.

There was an eruption of wind and noise, and the General was flung out the window. Pure luck was what saved the Sith Lords, as in the nick of time both of them grabbed on to a sturdy console. Above the din, Dooku's voice could barely be heard.

"Emperor! Turn on the shields!"

Emperor Kenobi, who, during the whole battle, had been hiding under a navigation computer, heard Dooku's call, and managed to reach out, and push the shield button on a nearby console. The noise died down, and metal shields covered the broken view screen. Dooku, now lying face down on the floor, sighed again.

"I'll ask again…got any ideas on how to get out of here? Alive?" he asked, his patience wearing thin.

Vader got up and stared at the ship controls.

He said, "Well let's just check…"

Vader walked over to the controls and pressed a button. There was a whirring sound, and some images appeared on screen.

"Oh damn and blast…" muttered Vader, staring intently at the screen, "Looks like that poor excuse for a droid managed to launch all of the escape pods."

Tyranus put grimaced.

"Any good news?" the Sith asked wearily.

"Well…" Vader started, "I could take manual control, and fly us down back to Coruscant."

There was a silence.

Dooku said, "Are you suggesting that you take manual control of an alien ship which you have never known about, that happens to have half of itself blown off, and bring it down through searing atmosphere to land, even though it wasn't designed to land?"

"More or less."

"Oh thank goodness. I thought you were going to try something impossible."

Vader sat down in the pilot's seat and grabbed the controls. They were of alien design, and not meant for his hand size, but Vader quickly got the gist of it. He pulled one lever to the left, and pressed a greenish purplish button. The Justice's Hand rolled violently to left, crushing a few TIE and Rebel fighters.

"Right…not a problem…" muttered Vader, this time turning a bit to the right, causing the ship to go directly towards Coruscant. As it barreled towards the planet, Kenobi and Dooku strapped themselves into extra seats.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Vader. Call me mad, but being disintegrated in the atmosphere of a planet is not how I intend to die." Warned the Emperor, who then leaned back in his seat and shut his eyes.

Dooku was also cautious.

"This better be different then Cato Nemoidia. Remember what happened there?"

"If you remember, Tyranus, it was I who saved you." Vader chuckled.

"That doesn't count. It was your fault in the first place."

Vader continued chuckling and gripped the controls tighter. This was going to be a bumpy ride. The Justice's Hand hit Coruscant's atmosphere hard, tipping precariously forward. It went straight down, zooming ever closer towards the great city. The Emperor was holding on to his seat tight, his eyes tightly shut. Dooku sat in a casual position, staring out the view screen. The outside of the ship was red hot, the atmosphere burning off layers of the war ship.

"Are we dead yet?" asked Tyranus.

Vader responded, "No."

"How about now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"Ha-ha..." mocked Vader, ignoring his companion from then on. Without warning, the ship rocked to the right, turning the mighty cruiser on its side. Vader though he heard a gasp from behind him. He pulled one lever hard to the left, hoping to swing the ship back. A second passed. It seemed like an eternity. The ship rolled back onto its normal position, and the three men on the bridge let out sighs of relief. Vader glanced up from the controls to see how far they were from the runway. To his shock, they were closing in on it fast. Smaller emergency ships were trying to spray out the flames, but failed.

"You're…-oming..in…oo…fast!" crackled a voice over the comm.

Vader took one last look out the view screen. They were about to hit the runway. The Sith shut his eyes and pulled the "Emergency Stop" button. A resounding CRASH roared through the Sith's ears, and an unseen force hurled him forward. He heard a grunt, which he assumed was a smart aleck comment from Dooku. The noise didn't stop, and Vader felt like his head would explode. And as quickly as it came, the sound and force stopped, and there was an eerie silence.

"Well!" exclaimed Kenobi, "Who feels like lunch?"

The sky bus zoomed through the endless traffic of Coruscant. Vader peered out the small view screen, looking down at the poor souls forced to work all day for a single credit. Which was almost every citizen of Coruscant. The "Senate", if you could call them that, were as corrupt as they were greedy. As long as the price was right, the loyal Senators would turn a blind-eye to Kenobi's "emergency powers". They didn't even care that Kenobi had taken "security funds" from all the hard working beings on Coruscant. Vader hated almost every single one of the pigs. Almost. Dooku shifted across from him. Darth Maul shifted behind him.

Soon after Vader successfully got the Justice's Hand down on the runway in one piece, Maul had appeared outside the great ship with a few Storm Troopers. Maul was a great Sith, one Vader somewhat respected. He was known for his unique double bladed lightsaber, and was Dooku's old apprentice. He was a Zabrak, which meant he wouldn't give up easily. He was a part of the Sith Council, and a close advisor to Sidious. The Irodonian had told to them of events in Coruscant, and of the Sith Order. More and more Sith were dying out in the war, and fewer and fewer were remaining true to the Sith ideals. But he had dropped the subject and insisted they go to the Senate Arena. There had been small talk on the way there, but nothing exceeding two sentences.

Dooku groaned.

"Oh excellent. More of those Senator worms. Looks like you're taking this one, Vader."

Vader turned to his counterpart, shaking his head.

"Oh no," exclaimed the young Sith, "Not this time. We're both going."

"Not likely. Someone needs to please those greedy insects, and believe me, I'm not that someone." Countered the Count.

Vader shot him a glare as the sky bus lowered and stopped on a platform swarming with Senators.

"Fine, you old bag. Have your way like a youngling. Go back to the Temple and have your fun." muttered the Chosen One, walking down the ramp and into the swarm of greedy politicians. Dooku laughed, watching his partner, and then turned to Maul.

"Now, what was it you wished to discuss?" asked Tyranus.

Maul lowered his turned his head, staring out the view screen.

"There have been…happenings…while you were in the Outer Rim…" started the Zabrak.

Dooku rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"What is it, Maul? Something frighten you? Something you can't handle?"

The Irodonian shrugged off the usual banter, and spoke again.

"All is not what it seems. You don't know. You haven't been here. The Emperor has been acting…out of character." He explained.

The Count took this in, and lowered his voice.

"Are you saying," he began, "That Kenobi is disagreeing with us?"

Maul made a barely visible nod.

"Not out in the open, mind you. Small things. Things that go under the radar. Like giving a few businesses credits. Or helping out a poor soul. You know. Things we can't let him do. For publicity reasons." Explained the Irodoninian, his lips pursed.

"I see…forgetting the obvious reasons, why is this a problem?" questioned Dooku, now getting concerned. Kenobi was meant to be an evil figure. That prevented more planets joining the Rebellion. When stuff like this happened, Kenobi lost respect. He couldn't be nice. The Sith couldn't afford to let him be nice.

"Well, that's the bigger issue," continued Maul, his gaze falling to the floor, "You and I know what the Emperor is like. He wouldn't do things like this unless he could gain from it. I suspect someone else is in on this."

Dooku said, "You mean..?"

"Yes," replied the Zabrak Sith Lord silently, "Obi-Wan."

Tyranus scowled and crossed his arms. Obi-Wan, or more appropriately, Jedi Master Obi-Wan, was a large threat. First, the Count didn't believe it. When Mace Windu had told him about the Jedi influence in the Empire, how Obi-Wan was pulling the strings, Dooku assumed it was lie to try and turn him from the dark side. But now…things were different. To imagine that the Emperor, the only thing keeping a dying Empire stable, was under control from a Jedi Master? Unthinkable. Dooku rubbed his forehead.

"Who else knows?" he whispered.

Maul raised his head, and put his hands on his lap.

"Now? You, Lord Sidious, and I. But listen, there's something else…something important." Sighed the Sith Lord, his red and black facial tattoos glinting in the harsh sunlight.

Something of a smile came to Tyranus' lips. After that, he didn't anything else would surprise him.

"What, Maul? What is so vital that I must know?"

The Zabrak turned away yet again, looking out the view screen.

"It's Vader." He said frankly. "You can't tell him."

Dooku stared, wide eyed.

"What do you mean? Why?" he asked.

Maul said, "You know Kenobi's friendship with him. Kenobi may be controlled by Jedi. Put two and two together, and you get a conflict. I don't think the boy can handle it. I don't trust him."

Tyranus sighed heavily. It was true. Vader, although deeply committed to the dark side, would defend the Emperor, should the need arise. Dooku sighed yet again.

"I understand." Was all the ageing Sith managed to say.

Maul got up and exited the now stopped sky bus.

"Oh no, Dooku," mumbled the very weary Sith, "I don't think you do."

Vader waded through the crowd of Senators, all trying to get a look at the famous Darth Vader. The Hero with No Fear, he was being called. But of all the politicians, he didn't see the only one he liked. The only one he loved. After saying a hurried good-bye to a very ugly Senator by the name of Fiveth Kliponng, Vader glanced over at a gold plated assassin droid, and rushed over to it.

"Hello, C-3-PO. I haven't seen you in a while." Greeted the Sith.

The assassin droid nodded.

"Indeed, Master Vader. Far too long. It will be a pleasure to work by your side again." Said the droid in his rough accent.

Vader glanced around, and then said in a hurried whisper.

"Look C3, where is she? I order you to tell me." Said the Sith lord in a usual gruff tone.

C3 said, "Straight to the point, Master. You haven't changed. Your…spouse…is behind the pillar exactly two feet behind me."

Vader nodded, and ran over to the pillar. And what he saw made him feel more powerful then Sidious himself. Because behind that pillar was Padme'. His wife. His lover. The one and only person he actually cared about. She stared at him. He stared at her.

Vader managed to say, "Hey."

And then they were kissing, rejoicing at their meeting, happy to see each other at long last. But it stopped, all too briefly.

"Oh Vader…you don't know how…good I feel to see you once more." Spoke Padme' softly, wiping some grime off his cheek.

"And I you, my love. It feels like we're back on Naboo… before the war…before everything." Said the Sith, putting his face in her hair. But she pulled away.

"What? What is it?" asked Vader, now a bit concerned.

Padme' turned away.

"Vader… I have something to tell you…it's important." She said, her voice a whisper.

The Chosen One looked at her strangely, wondering what this was about.

"What? Tell me! Is there someone else? You love another? Tell me now! Tell me!" he roared, shaking her.

"Vader! No! It's not like that! I'm…I'm…pregnant…" she mumbled.

The Sith Lord stepped back, confused. Confusion turned quickly to joy.

"Padme'! That's...that's...wonderful! When did you find out? Is it a boy? I'd like a son…a strong son..." Vader exclaimed.

Padme' looked taken aback.

"Wha…you're not mad?" she asked slowly.

Vader chuckled and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Why should I be? This is a happy moment! We'll be happy. Us and the baby. Just the three of us. Forever."