Chapter 25
The Duel
Vader clutched tightly to one of the overhead handles on the gunship as it lurched crazily to one side. Some turbulence from a nearby rocket explosion almost flipped them over and he found himself surprised that some of the clone troops hadn't fallen out of the open sides. But somehow they stabilized and continued on weaving through the chaotic crowded skies over the Geonosis battlefield.
Fortunately they'd had time to stop and land at a command center and let the Senator off. Obi-Wan had wanted Vader to get off there too, but he had refused. He wasn't going to leave Obi-Wan alone with only clones for back-up.
As the battle intensified, their particular gunship was pushed near the fringes of the fighting. Just as they fired off the last of their rockets, Vader happened to glance out of the side of the gunship and see something. It looked like a speeder bike and some other little things racing away from the fighting. But what would a little speeder bike like that be doing out here?
Frowning, Vader extended his senses toward the little bike. Whoever it was had tightly shielded themselves, he would never have noticed the bike unless he'd happened to look directly at it. And then he realized just who he was looking at. It was Dooku.
"What's that?" Obi-Wan shouted over the constant roar of battle.
"It-it's Dooku!" Vader managed to shout back in reply.
"Dooku?" Obi-Wan blinked, squinting at the rapidly vanishing speeder bike. "After him!" He shouted to the pilot.
"Yes sir!" The pilot cried and turned the gunship onto a pursuit course.
As they drew closer, Vader grew increasingly anxious. While he'd wanted to stay and help Obi-Wan, he really didn't want to meet the creep face-to-face. "Can you shoot him down?" He asked the weird soldiers.
"Sorry sir, we're out of missiles." One of them replied.
"What about the laser cannons?" Vader tried.
"They're overheated." Was the answer.
"Damn it all." Vader hissed bitterly, doing his best to swallow his rising anxiety.
Then the Count decided to make their lives just a bit more interesting. The weird pointy things that had been following his bike like escorts suddenly dropped back out of sight. Then the gunship began to rock and jolt at the pointy things fired at them. There was no time to try and lose them. If they did, they'd lose the Count. So they kept on chasing him even though they risked losing shields and getting blown out of the sky.
Up ahead, Vader spied a mountain range of some sort, and the Count was aimed directly for it. It didn't look like a viable avenue for escape, but he knew the Count was no fool. There was probably a ship hidden out there waiting for him. They just had to catch up with him before he got there, beat him, and maybe this crazy war would be over before it even really started.
A solid hit from one of the Count's escorts almost overturned the gunship, causing a couple of the white-armored soldiers to tumble down over the reddish-orange sand dunes below. The gunship pilots were skilled though and they managed to stay in the air, but it was clear they wouldn't last much longer. Thankfully the Count seemed to have reached where he was going.
The speeder bike climbed to dart into a dark cave opening in an otherwise sheer cliff face. The gunship shuddered from the continued fire as it lurched sideways, drawing near the projecting lip of the cave. At the right moment, Obi-Wan out of the ship onto the ledge and Vader was right behind him. They'd barely stumbled into the dim cave when there was a tremendous explosion behind them. Vader made a conscious effort not to think about the clone troopers in white armor that had just been obliterated.
Instead, Vader decided to focus on following Obi-Wan deeper into the cave and his probable doom. Clenching his teeth and his fists, he ran after the Jedi Knight into the artificially lit cave. They skidded to a halt at the opening of a cavern in which sat a ship that Vader found uncomfortably familiar. It was Dooku's private ship, the Solar Sailor. And the Count was almost ready to board it and disappear.
"Going so soon Count Dooku?" Obi-Wan challenged, taking the spare saber into his hand. Vader trembled silently just behind Obi-Wan's shoulder, wanting nothing more than to wake up and find this all to be some kind of twisted nightmare.
"Ah, Obi-Wan, how nice of you to see me off!" Dooku chuckled, calmly turning to regard his pursuers. "Oh and you've brought a friend along, too!" The elderly man smiled as he noticed Vader. Then the smile faded as he took a closer look.
"You won't be going anywhere Dooku." Obi-Wan asserted, gripping the still inactive saber hilt with both hands.
"Who is that with you?" Dooku murmured, totally ignoring what Obi-Wan had just said.
Vader bit the inside of his cheek and threw up the tightest, thickest shields he could muster. He wouldn't let the Count in, no matter what. The icy prickles against his mind proved to him that the old creep was trying. I should've listened to Master Windu! Staying was a really bad idea!
"It doesn't matter." Obi-Wan snapped back.
Dooku ignored Obi-Wan again, his focus solely on figuring Vader out. And then his dark eyes lit up with unsettling glee. "Oh my! Vader, my dear boy, is that you?"
Vader gulped back a spike of rage laced with mindless terror. I'm not your 'dear boy' you bastard!
"It is you!" Dooku chuckled. "Whatever are you doing up there dressed in that ridiculous costume? Don't tell me that's fooled anyone." The Count laughed harshly.
"Shut up!" Vader snarled, kicking himself at the strained pitch of his own voice.
"Mind your tongue boy," Dooku chided. "You ought to be old enough to know better than to talk back to your superiors." His tone was light, but there was dark menace underneath.
"Yeah, I 'ought to'." Vader sneered, trembling in a combination of nerves and rising rage.
"Mind yourself," Dooku growled warningly. "I know you know better."
"Stuff it! I don't listen to you anymore!" Vader snapped, his right hand unconsciously clutching the hilt of his Jedi lightsaber.
"I see," Dooku replied icily. "Obi-Wan, what has this miserable little desert rat told you?"
That did it. Vader couldn't stand it anymore. This snobby, stuck-up, corrupt, shameful excuse for a human being had haunted him for years. This lousy bastard had fired his nightmares and been his constant shadow, always on the fringes of his thoughts. And he was tired of it.
Tired of being hunted. Tired of being haunted. Tired of being so damn afraid all the time. It was time for this to end, and he'd end it!
Without a thought, he lunged at the Count, intent on cutting him down and being free of him forever. He probably should've thought about it before doing it. It would've saved him a good deal of pain.
Before he even managed to activate his saber, the Count slammed him with a high-powered blast of Force lightning. He was knocked completely off his feet and smacked had into a rough stone wall of the cavern. The air was ripped from his lungs as his nerves caught fire. He would've screamed in agony if it was possible. And as he drifted out of consciousness, he mentally kicked himself.
How could've I have forgotten about that?
Obi-Wan winced as Vader was struck by an unnatural blast of lightning and went flying. He'd tried to keep the boy from attacking. The only chance they might have for success was if they attacked together. But before he could even open his mouth things had already completely gone down the tubes.
Shaking his head, Obi-Wan hurried to interpose himself between the semi-conscious Vader and Count Dooku. No matter what happened here, he had a duty to protect this boy with his life if necessary. Only an order from the Council could end this mission.
With a sneer, Dooku fired another burst of lightning towards him, but he snapped his lightsaber up to deflect it. Annoyed, the Count tried again, with the same unsuccessful result. Nearly scowling now, Dooku unhooked his odd curved saber hilt and prepared for a duel.
"Really, Obi-Wan, what has he told you?" Dooku asked.
"Very little, I'm afraid," Obi-Wan shrugged, holding his lightsaber in a defensive position. "Shall we begin?"
"If you insist." Dooku chuckled darkly, activating his saber.
The instant the ruby red blade was fully extended, the Count struck. The man may be old, but he had the power of the Force behind him and so he had the strength, speed, and agility of a much younger man coupled with the experience his age afforded him. That left Obi-Wan hard-pressed to keep up.
But the Force was with him too. That's probably the only reason he hadn't died by the third swing. It guided his own swings that countered and parried. If he lost focus, even for an instant, he was a dead man.
"Come now, Obi-Wan, you disappoint me." Dooku taunted as his red-bladed saber swept in elegant arcs without wasting a single movement.
Dueling was like a fancy dance for him, and he was a master at it. Fighting with him made Obi-Wan feel like an Initiate trying out a lightsaber for the first time. Dooku could probably keep this up for hours. Obi-Wan, on the other hand, wasn't sure if he could keep it up for five more minutes.
And then it happened. Dooku found a hole in Obi-Wan's defense. The red blade slipped down and burned him across his thigh. That sent him collapsing to the floor and opened him up for another strike, this one across the upper arm on the same side. Overwhelmed by the shock and pain, his lightsaber fell from his hand and skittered a few feet away.
"This is the end, I'm afraid." Count Dooku sighed, sounding appropriately apologetic. He raised his saber high overhead in preparation for the final fatal strike. "It was a pleasure dueling with you, young Kenobi. A pity that you didn't last longer, though."
Obi-Wan swallowed hard, closed his eyes, and waited for the strike to fall…
Vader blinked away the hazy splotches that danced in front of his eyes and struggled upright. Dazedly he watched Obi-Wan and the Count duke it out with lightsabers. The flicker and flash of the red and blue lightsabers was mesmerizing. But then Obi-Wan went down.
That was quite enough to knock him free of his dazed state. Absolute horror washed over him. Obi-Wan was going to die. The Count was going to kill him. And it was all his fault. Obi-Wan was going to die because he was too stupid to keep control of himself.
No…
In spite of his tingling, half-numb muscles, he somehow found the strength and focus to throw himself practically across the cavernous room. Without a second to spare, he interposed his own blue blade between Obi-Wan and the Count's crimson saber. Vader idly wondered who was more shocked at this, Obi-Wan or Dooku.
"Brave of you boy, but I'd thought you'd learned your lesson." Dooku managed after a moment.
"Well, I am a slow learner." Vader snorted. "But you already knew that."
And then he knocked Dooku's blade aside, slashing a few more times to press the old man back, away from Obi-Wan. Dooku frowned, but retreated for the time being, allowing Vader to have his way. Vader fought down a wave of dread as he picked up on the fact that Dooku was toying with him.
"Here!" He heard Obi-Wan cry and he turned just in time to catch the other lightsaber.
Vader switched on the second blade and turned on the pressure. At first the second lightsaber seemed to give him the edge. He could attack with one blade and defend with the other. And the Count appeared to be pushed on the defensive. But then Dooku sliced through the emitter on Obi-Wan's replacement saber and proved that he was still the master here.
"Enough of this foolishness. Put that saber down and come with me." Dooku commanded, backing off slightly.
"Weren't you listening old man? I don't listen to you anymore." Vader growled, pressing the attack and accidentally slicing through a power cable, causing the lights to flicker.
"All I see is a foolish little child blindly throwing everything away out of spite." Dooku fired back coldly, circling around in the dark lit only by his blood-red blade.
"And all I see is a crazy old man who is in desperate need of a reality check!" Vader bit back.
Dooku looked furious, but managed to hold himself back. Briefly. "You have a great destiny before you–"
"Save it for someone who cares!" Vader interrupted.
"So be it," Dooku growled, "you've made your choice."
Then the duel intensified. Dooku held nothing back now, slashing and stabbing faster and faster. Vader found himself struggling to keep up. Making any attacks of his own was impossible. And then he couldn't keep up anymore.
There was a searing flash and his hand and arm were on fire. He couldn't seem to balance anymore. His saber was missing. And then he was slammed backwards and into the hard stone floor. Then there was only darkness…
Obi-Wan felt the breath driven out of him as he watched Dooku slice right through Vader's arm. The boy wobbled slightly, flailing for balance, and then went flying backwards as Dooku knocked him aside. He skidded over the floor and came to rest with his head lying across Obi-Wan's shins. Vader was out cold.
Vader had actually been holding his own for a while. Though now it seemed the Count had been messing around the whole time before hacking off poor Vader's arm. And now with the both of them disabled, they were now at the Count's mercy. They were doomed.
"Well, it has been interesting," Dooku chuckled darkly, "but I must be going." He slowly walked towards them, idly swinging his crimson saber. "Farewell." The blade rose, but froze mid-strike.
The echoing sound of a tiny cane tapping against stone seemed to rise out of thin air. Not long after a tiny figure emerged out of the shadows and hobbled towards the Count. Master Yoda, it seemed, wanted a turn.
"Ah, Master Yoda, how nice of you to join us." Dooku sneered.
"Count Dooku," Master Yoda scowled.
"I wonder, do you know exactly what it is that you shelter?" Dooku mused, pointedly glancing at Vader's prone form.
"Far you have fallen, my old Padawan, to see a child as an object." Yoda replied with weary sadness.
"I have not fallen!" Dooku snapped. "I have merely come to see things in a new light."
"No Light do I sense in you, but the Dark Side…another matter, that is." Yoda sighed.
"Enough of this chatter," Dooku scowled. "Let me show you what I have discovered."
Dooku suited actions to his words and hurled a blast of Force lightning at his tiny former Master. The little green troll merely raised one taloned hand and caught the blast, absorbing and dissipating the energy effortlessly. Dooku glared and tried it again, with the same result.
"Much you still have to learn, Dooku." Yoda chided.
The Count glared furiously and began destroying the hidden hanger. He ripped pipes and cables off the walls and hurled them towards the ancient Jedi. Yoda froze them in midair and cast them aside. Dooku then collapsed a large section of the ceiling to try and crush the green gnome. Yoda caught the rubble and threw it away. Clearly frustrated, the Count decided to try something else.
"It seems this will not be decided by our knowledge in the Force, but with our skills with a lightsaber." Dooku declared, relighting his saber.
"So it seems," Yoda sighed, lighting his own tiny green blade.
And then the duel really began. Obi-Wan could barely follow the action. There were only flashes of red and green and the crackle and hum of clashing lightsabers.
Once, when he had been a young Initiate, he'd seen Master Yoda give a saber demonstration. He'd chosen to go against an enormous alien Jedi Master who fought with two lightsabers. And in five minutes, the huge Jedi Master was sprawled on the floor, weaponless, and Master Yoda was calmly picking up his cane and hobbling away.
This duel was even more impressive than that one was. Yoda moved faster, bounced off ledges and walls, and only seemed to be still when his green saber was locked against the Count's red one. Now it was Count Dooku who was hard-pressed to keep up. And the Count knew it.
Then the wily old man appeared to get an idea. He managed to trap Yoda's saber with his, and then he reached over and attacked a heavy mechanical spire. The column toppled over and started to land on Obi-Wan and the unconscious Vader. Obi-Wan was too stunned to move, all he could do was squirm slightly, trying to shield Vader with his own body. Not that that would do any good. The column was so heavy, they'd both be crushed.
But the blow never came. Obi-Wan glanced up to see Yoda straining against the unexpected burden. The metal spire hovered above them before being shoved clear and clattering to the floor. And then the engines on Dooku's ship roared to life and it rocketed out of the hanger into the clear Geonosian sky.
Obi-Wan shook his head and turned his attention back to the unconscious Vader. The young man twitched slightly, signaling that he might wake up soon. For his sake, Obi-Wan hoped he didn't. Grimacing against the burning in his injured arm, he very carefully pulled Vader closer to examine what was left of his right arm.
It was bad. While the intense heat of the saber blade had cauterized the stump, keeping Vader from bleeding to death, it also meant that there was no chance that his hand could be reattached. For a Jedi, this was a devastating injury. He'd never be the same.
"Tragic this is." Yoda sighed, having hobbled over himself to inspect their wounds.
"Yes," Obi-Wan agreed, sensing the aged Master was referring to much more than Vader's maiming. "It is."
"M-master." Vader mumbled in barely a whisper. His eyelids flickered as he fought his way back to consciousness. "W…wh–"
Obi-Wan swallowed hard and made a decision. He slipped around Vader's weak barriers and dove deep into his mind. Before the semi-conscious young man could stop him, he planted a strong sleep suggestion that would hopefully keep him asleep until he was brought to a medical center and treated. With a strangled whimper, Vader slipped back into dreamless sleep.
"Appreciate that he will not." Yoda calmly pointed out.
"I know," Obi-Wan sighed wearily. "I know." He'll hate me for this, but hopefully he'll understand why…