Coruscant
The High Council had instructed Anakin to maintain visual contact. They didn't say how closely he should tail Grievous.
Anakin and the hastily scrambled Clone fighters were in hot pursuit, blasting away at every enemy ship except for Grievous's. Vulture droids and HMP Gunships burst into flames or exploded, dropping down into the clouds.
But after Grievous's shuttle ascended through the highest layer of stratospheric clouds, passing through a brawl between a Corporate Alliance Fantail Destroyer and a trio of Arquitens cruisers, Anakin grimaced, clenching his jaw reflexively. A barrage of turbolaser and laser fire rained down in a circle around the tri-winged shuttle, nailing two of the pursuing Republic ARC-170s.
"Tighten up!" Anakin barked into the general channel. "Use Grievous's shuttle for cover!" Following his own advice, he pitched to starboard, positioning his ship directly behind the shuttle, in its exhaust stream.
Hawk, Broadside, and Oddball better get here to escort Obi-Wan soon, otherwise we're going to have a big problem…
The eight Republic vessels were soon reduced to four—three ARC-170s and Anakin's Eta-2 Actis, with the survivors all crowding around the shuttle's rear. Their formation was so tight that if a single stray torpedo hit any one of them, they would all be blown to dust.
"Sir! We can't just sit like this forever unless we plan on following Grievous into the hangar!" barked one of the Clone pilots as a Techno Union Hardcell exploded off to their port side, showering a nearby CIS Lupus-class missile frigate and a Republic DP20 gunship with debris.
Anakin smirked. "Maybe that's exactly what I have in mind. While I land, you guys fly through the hangar to the other side. Split their focus. The droids will— Blast it!"
The Invisible Hand suddenly switched to her ion cannons, targeting Grievous's own shuttle, which was instantly disabled in an act of friendly-fire.
Impacted by the same blast that hit Grievous, Anakin's console sparked and crackled as every system shut down at once.
"Artoo!" Anakin cried out, seeing his trusty astromech spark and sizzle just outside the cockpit canopy. He looked around helplessly, able to see the Clones in their own disabled craft, but able to do nothing to help them.
All vessels, including Grievous's shuttle, were dead in space floating along their last vectors. Seconds later, Anakin's fighter was caught in a tractor beam, dragged alongside Grievous's shuttle towards the yawning main hangar. The nine Clone pilots and their astromechs promptly ejected, opting to hope for either a pickup by a friendly warship or risk a multi-hour long terrifying fall through the war torn atmosphere, followed by grav-chuting into friendly lines.
"Well, this is one way to rescue the Chancellor," Anakin sighed to himself, alone as the starry darkness of space gave way to the brightly lit interior. Artoo would reboot eventually, but until that happened, he was by himself.
Below, General Grievous had already departed his shuttle. He shoved Palpatine down the ramp and forced him to kneel in front of none other than Count Dooku—who was standing right at the bottom of the landing ramp.
Right where a small army of battle droids was waiting, all of them leveling their weapons at his Eta-2.
Anakin was sure he could defeat Dooku in a fair fight. He was even more certain he could defeat Grievous, who had fled from Obi-Wan several times.
But alone, with Dooku and Grievous together, not to mention hundreds of droids, and a captured and vulnerable Chancellor, there were only two real options. Fight now and hope for some distraction to escape or surrender and wait for a time when Dooku or Grievous are more vulnerable.
Closing his eyes, Anakin reached out, trying to get some input from the Force before he made his decision.
o.o.o.o.o
Mace Windu
Aboard the Red Swan
Conventional Jedi wisdom was that fear led to anger, which led to hate, which led to suffering. Mace Windu had skipped fear entirely. He was absolutely furious at Palpatine and the incompetents running the Galactic Republic.
Several stupid and suicidal decisions in a row had led them into this impossible situation.
Count Dooku was now broadcasting an ultimatum to the Jedi Order. Surrender and allow Chancellor Palpatine to be given a fair trial or the Separatists will level Coruscant.
Dooku had miscalculated.
Ten minutes after Dooku's message was received, the High Council voted. Yoda opposed action, on the grounds that a hasty rescue mission would put the Supreme Chancellor in too much peril. Mace Windu argued that they would have absolutely no hope of rescuing the Chancellor if they spent any more time deliberating, and the only options were surrender or attack. The Grandmaster's vote was the singular one made against taking action.
Now, the Consular-class cruiser Red Swan left the Jedi Temple, and so commenced the largest Jedi operation since Geonosis.
The cruiser darted through smoke and explosions as it ferried twenty-five Jedi into battle, including Shaak-Ti (who had been given a new lightsaber), Kit Fisto, Cin Drallig, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Kelleran Beq. In their wake were three more Consulars 'requisitioned' from the diplomatic service, each laden with forty Clone Commandos, ARC Troopers, and Spec Ops troopers. The combined force would board the Invisible Hand, neutralize Dooku and Grievous, and rescue Palpatine if possible, recover his body if not.
At least the last sentiment was what Mace Windu secretly thought was the most likely outcome, though hoping for Palaptine's death was far too treasonous for him to even entertain.
"Oh my—Dank farrik!" Shaak-Ti swore aloud, holding her datapad on her lap.
"What is it?" Obi-Wan asked, dread in his voice.
"This!" Shaak-Ti hissed, turning on her wrist-comm which projected a small hologram of the coverage broadcasted by CoreNews.
"I am reporting live from Pius Dea Spaceport where—ugh!" The dark-skinned news woman grunted angrily as a bystander pushed past her. "Hundreds of beings have breached the perimeter fence—It's pandemonium out here."
"Isn't martial law still in place?!" Mace Windu asked, his voice rising in fury.
The hologram was divided in two, with a new half appearing to the left—the face of a pale-skinned Bith male. "Keep safe out there Anora Fair!"
"I will keep as safe as I can," Anora promised with a nod. Her presence disappeared, and the Bith's expanded, covering the entirety of Shaak-Ti's wrist projector.
"Now to Darith Larson on Orbital Mirror 59, where we continue our coverage of the Chancellor's abduction. Darith, from your vantage point, do you believe this is the end of the Galactic Republic?"
"Turn that off!" snarled Voolvif Monn, a brown-furred Shistavanen and veteran of the Battle of Muunilinst.
Something outside exploded, causing the Red Swan to tremble.
Under normal circumstances, Mace Windu would have promptly chided even a Jedi Master like Voolvif Monn for speaking so disrespectfully to a High Council Member. However, Windu could not contain his own incredulity at these events.
"How does the media know?" he asked as calmly as he could, looking across the passenger compartment to Shaak-Ti. "The abduction was less than half an hour ago."
The Togruta massaged her forehead as if she had a headache. "Palpatine's Advisory Council. They thought it best to keep the media apprised, and now all of Coruscant is panicking."
This really could be the end of the Republic.
Windu gulped, pushing the terrible thought aside. "Okay people. This just means that our mission is even more important than it was. Let's finish this."
The Red Swan broke through the highest layer of cirrus clouds in Coruscant's stratosphere. Through the viewports, the Invisible Hand loomed into view, being bombarded by two Venators at once as well as a second Providence, this one marked with a Republic IFF identifying her as the Prosperous, while several Carracks provided supporting fire from their ion cannons. The Separatist flagship's own escort of Recusants and Munificents had been pushed back, clearing a path for the Red Swan's group.
All around, thousands of heavy warships on either side engaged in a pitched brawl with tens of thousands of fighters and gunships flitting among them. On the Republic's side, these were mainly Venator and Victory-class Star Destroyers, but in smaller numbers were newer Imperator-class ships, fresh from Kuat. Mace Windu spotted one heavily-armored Tector-class near Coruscant's horizon. The behemoth wedge-shaped vessel was in the process of punching deep into a Separatist formation in support of a cluster of older Dreadnaught-class vessels, some of which were burning.
Not far off, a Bulwark battlecruiser fell towards Coruscant's surface in flames, victim of a barrage from a distant Mandator II star dreadnought, the utterly immense warship spewing walls of turbolaser bolts and assault concussion missiles at everything not painted in Republic red. An unfortunate Auxilia pursuit destroyer moving to intercept the Jedi flotilla was smashed into an ovoid flatcake by the hulk as the Consular group's pilots deftly maneuvered around the falling wreck.
The Separatist fleet was taking serious losses, far more than the Republic at this rate. Still, as the Red Swan neared the Invisible Hand, Windu wondered whether Dooku had something more up his sleeve—Grievous had already just effectively decapitated the government and military with how much power was vested into Palpatine.
ARC-170s, V-Wings, and Z-95s took up formation around the small flotilla as the comms crackled. "Generals, this is Oddball; Shadow, Gold, and Red squadrons are already engaged under General Tinn. Blue Squadron and Squads Seven and Four will provide as much cover as we can."
Mace nodded, gazing out the viewports at the dogfight underway all around the Separatist flagship. "Understood Commander, may the force be with you. Are their shields down?"
"Affirmative, General Windu. You are go for boarding."
o.o.o.o.o
SHEEV PALPATINE
"If you are so confident you can defeat me," Dooku scoffed, pressing a button on his remote control, "Then try."
Anakin's cuffs dropped to the ground. Not even remotely surprised by Dooku's arrogance or the abrupt turn of events, he took his lightsaber the moment it was thrown to him. "You're going to pay for everything." An eerie blue glow reflected off his face as the saber ignited.
"Anakin, wait! Get help!" Sidious cried out in pretend fear, still handcuffed to a comfortable observation chair positioned in front of massive viewports, a group of ARC-170s flashing past with Tri-Fighters in pursuit, two Y-Wings in turn pursuing the droids. "He's a Sith Lord!"
A wicked smile flashed under Dooku's beard. "I've been looking forward to this."
"My powers have doubled since we last met," Anakin said confidently, ignoring the Chancellor's protests.
Sidious's eyes darted from one combatant to the other as they began sparring. Anakin swung his saber again and again, slamming it forcefully into the Count's, who skillfully parried every attack.
Dooku twirled, spinning away from Anakin who swung his saber into thin air, stumbling. A gasp escaped Sidious's mouth as the Count pirouetted on one foot, swinging his saber back at Anakin's head in a decapitating blow.
But as Sidious had instructed, Dooku held back. Anakin reacted quickly enough to block it, and for three seconds, the two combatants pressed their blades at each other in an intense saber lock.
"I sense great fear. You have anger, you have hatred, but you do not use them," Dooku mocked as they broke away.
At that moment, the tempo of Anakin's attacks increased, and Sidious sensed the burning atomic furnace of Anakin's power begin to let loose.
Tyrannus clearly sensed the same and withdrew, stunned by the raw power behind each strike of Skywalker's blade. Anakin clearly recognized the change in the pace of the duel, as his attacks became less sloppy the more he pushed Dooku back.
Anakin's power in the Force and his physical ability both far surpassed Dooku despite the gap in experience and training—that Kenobi or Tano weren't present merely made the situation all the better.
Good Anakin! Strike harder, faster! He thought, unable to help himself as he grunted in support of the young Jedi's efforts.
Dooku's attempt to gain a height advantage ended when Anakin cleaved through the table he stood upon, the Count falling to the deck plates and scrambling to his feet as Anakin swapped from Ataru and Shien to Djem-So.
His own Makashi style was vastly outmatched by Anakin's raw strength. Dooku tried, and failed, to maintain the mobility advantage, eyes widening in Sidious's direction as what had been a farce turned into a fight for survival.
Sidious could sense Dooku's reserves of energy in the force diminishing with each strike he blocked, a failed Force push to try and open the distance between him and Anakin only served to sap them further. Soon, Tyrannus was solely on the defensive, unable to even gather the strength to exploit any opening Anakin left in his brutal assault, even an attempt to utilize his Super Battle Droid guards to create an opening only served to leave them as smoldering scrap on the floor.
Dooku's expression changed suddenly as Anakin cornered him. So, he's recognized it as well. Sidious thought, realizing his apprentice had also noticed the walls of fear, of dread, that held in Anakin's boiling fury. Fear of loss, fear of failure, fear of himself.
"That fear you hold. You are consumed by it. 'Hero with no Fear', indeed. You are a fraud, Skywalker. Nothing but a posturing child given one too many gifts," Dooku chided. It was an obvious attempt to use a taunt in the spirit of Dun Moch, with the goal of throwing off Anakin's offensive during a lull in the duel.
The fool! Sidious seethed, keeping a calm face in spite of Tyrannus throwing the entire plan out the airlock. Anakin's focus began to change from winning to controlling his own emotions.
"Aren't you a little old to be afraid of the Dark?" Dooku taunted, and Anakin fell for the bait, hook, line, and sinker. He launched himself at Dooku, but the Count was able to match him this time, every strike was deftly blocked, and the tide began to shift.
This will not do. Sidious realized, glowering unnoticed by the combatants. The Invisible Hand rocked from another hit as the irrelevant space battle continued all around this tiny but unfathomably important contest.
"Don't fear what you are feeling, Anakin, use it!" Palpatine barked, stunning both combatants who stopped fighting and stared at him. "Call upon your fury. Focus it, and he will not be able to stand against you. Rage is your weapon. Strike now! Strike! Kill him!"
The blank look on Dooku's face began to give way to a dawning realization of betrayal. Anakin renewed his offensive against Dooku, scarlet faltering as blue slammed against it time and time again.
A smile slowly graced Sidious's features, and with it came a flicker of sulfurous yellow across his eyes. The rest of the duel was mere detail. Nothing Dooku had left could stand against Anakin's rage now—now that he had permission to let it loose.
Blades clashed, spun, locked, broke, and locked again until finally Dooku made a fatal mistake.
A flash of blue severs went through Corellian nanosilk, flesh, and bone alike, and Dooku's saber fell from a severed hand. The Count's face contorted in pain and disbelief.
And then it flew into Anakin's grip. Scarlet lashed out through Dooku's remaining hand, giving the Count double the taste of what he inflicted upon Anakin on Geonosis.
Dooku fell to his knees, head slowly turning to face Sidious in horror—too stunned to say anything as the twin blades of light and dark crossed before his neck.
"Good Anakin! Good! I knew you could do it!" Sidious purred, letting Tyrannus stew in the knowledge he had been replaced, before letting stroke the executioner's bell. "Kill him," he instructed flatly. "Kill him now."
He could sense the conflict roiling within Skywalker. The desire to end the man who dared to try and harm his wife, his apprentice, his men, and his mentor, matched against his duty as a Jedi.
"I shouldn't…" Anakin began, gazing down upon the helpless and terrified Dooku, utterly at his mercy and too stunned to speak in his own defense.
Muffled sounds of blasterfire from beyond the bulkhead suddenly distracted Sidious. He looked up at the wall, then back to Anakin.
But before Sidious could reinforce the instruction and give Anakin the permission to kill Dooku that he craved, the main doors to the observation suite blew in. The Sith Lord gasped in stunned disbelief as a motley array of over a dozen diversely colored Clone Commandos poured into the room. Their DC-17m blasters swept over every nook and corner, visors glowing the same azure as Anakin's lightsaber.
Mace Windu strode in at the back of the group, shaking his head. "No Skywalker, you most certainly should not. This party's over."
A half dozen other Jedi marched into the suite behind Windu and the Clones, lightsabers lit as they circled Dooku's kneeling form.
Anakin stood there for a long while, just as surprised as Sidious, then slowly extinguished his sabers. "You're right, Master."
A fear overcame Sidious that was so strong, it took him several seconds to manage to say anything at all. When he did, what came out was much more high pitched than he would have preferred. "I—I thank you, Masters Jedi, on behalf of the entire Senate!"
At the front of the mixed group of Jedi and Clones, the Commandos pointed their weapons at Dooku from all directions. One of them was glancing down at the stun cuffs he was holding, and then up at the stumps of Dooku's arms, not sure what to do. He finally shook his head in exasperation.
"Chancellor, I am glad you are well," Windu said curtly, undoing Sidious's bindings and allowing him to stand.
Breathless, Sidious collapsed back into his chair. He hadn't felt this afraid in years. Everything that had transpired was completely beyond his reckoning.
There was what sounded like another firefight beyond the bulkhead, followed by slicing lightsabers from upstairs. For a brief moment, all Clones aimed their blasters at the upstairs balcony, but then a canid Jedi Sidious did not recognize, probably a Shistavanen, emerged through a pair of blast doors.
"The top level of the spire is all clear," he growled.
"Good." Mace Windu raised his hand, which now projected an image of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Shaak-Ti. "The main bridge is secure then?"
"It was easier than I had imagined in my wildest dreams, Fordo and his men are already processing the Neimoidian bridge crew and we've informed the fleet that the enemy flagship has been captured," Obi-Wan said cheerily. "We should attack the Separatists with dozens of Jedi at once all the time."
"Come on!" Anakin laughed, walking up to Mace Windu's side as he regarded the hologram of his former Master. "That would be too easy."
Sidious was hardly paying attention to any of this. His heart rate had increased to nearly the level of cardiac arrest. Two Jedi were now escorting the handless Count out of the room, one hand gripped over each of his forearms. Darth Tyrannus gave Sidious one last fleeting look before he disappeared into the doorway.
This cannot be allowed to transpire. Dooku, in the hands of the Jedi?
"Master—Master Windu," Sidious finally managed, in a croaky and weak voice, "Where, might I ask, are you taking this traitor?"
"We are taking him to the Jedi Temple for interrogation and judgment."
"But he is to be put on trial by the Senate!" Sidious hissed. This drew the attention of both Obi-Wan and Shaak-Ti's presences.
Mace Windu blinked at him incredulously. "The last time we let the Senate put a Jedi on trial, you nearly executed an innocent Padawan—"
"Those were very different circumstances," Sidious said, this time regaining his firm composure. "The evidence against Dooku is overwhelming! The greatest act of treason in Galactic history has transpired. It is immaterial that Dooku was once a Jedi."
"We are standing here, on an enemy vessel, in the middle of a battle," Windu started, then took a deep breath, "And we are here because you decided to remain in your own suite instead of—You put the whole Republic in—You are in no position to dictate terms, not anymore!" he managed finally. "This is not a discussion, Chancellor. If you feel the Order's taking Dooku into custody is unconstitutional, I suggest you take it up with the courts."
With the courts… The phrase consorting with vipers was on the tip of his tongue, when Mace Windu turned to the Shistavanen Jedi.
"Voolvif, you and Skywalker will escort the Chancellor back to the surface for a full medical checkup."
"There is one more matter," Obi-Wan said gravely, "Grievous escaped, and much of the surviving Separatist fleet has retreated into hyperspace."
"Given the circumstances," Windu smiled, "I'll say that hardly matters. I think the war is all but at a close. Have a prize crew stabilize this vessel and then bring it down for intelligence to sweep."
Those were the last words Sidious heard from the bald Jedi Master before stepping out into the hall, which was littered with the destroyed remains of dozens of droids. He supposed that the Jedi had managed to destroy so many droids without him sensing it—or even hearing it, because he had been so engrossed with Anakin's duel. Everything had seemed like it was going exactly to plan or even better.
As Anakin and the Shistavanen led him to the turbolift, Sidious seethed inwardly despite his calm exterior. It was like every element of his plan had fallen exactly one step short of success. Grievous had abducted him, but so slowly and with such obviousness that an entire Jedi contingent had followed him.
Anakin had defeated Dooku, but he had been prevented from killing him and was nowhere near vulnerable enough to be persuaded to join him. On top of that Sidious strongly believed that moronic Kaleesh had failed to wipe his own flagship's computers before fleeing from Kenobi for the umpteenth time. And now, in a final mockery of his plans, the Chosen was not to accompany him alone, but with another Jedi.
Together, these failures now created a series of insurmountable problems. At first, Sidious considered the possibility of Dooku staying quiet. Perhaps he would use his insider position to secure an even higher position in the New Order than I had promised. Sidious angrily discounted that idea a moment later as grasping at straws. Dooku would tell the High Council till he was red in the face that the Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and Lord Sidious were one in the same.
The Jedi would not believe at first, but with the Invisible Hand in their possession and, no doubt, a large number of other Separatist leaders captured alive, their discovery of Palpatine's true identity was inevitable. It would probably take a day, maybe two, but eventually some technician would find not just one piece of data verifying Dooku's narrative, but volumes of data. Entire holorecords carrying the likeness of Sidious's form. Voice recordings that could be matched back to his. Depending on how detailed Dooku's memory was, perhaps even navigation logs that corroborate potential dates for contact.
Order 66 could not be initiated without a legitimate reason—if he initiated it for no reason at all, the public and Senate would not support it, even in spite of the PR failings of the Jedi. Even worse, Skywalker had failed to step onto the first in a whole series of the final steps needed to be converted to the Sith cause. Thus, any activation of Order 66 would have to be without the Chosen One's aid.
