Hello Readers. Before you read the next chapter, please peek back and make sure you've read the one before this. If you are reading this on , they were having an issue with email notifications last month, they stopped completely, and I don't know if my updates were affected by this.

Chapter 64 - Guilt Trip

"Okay, are you ready to make the call?" Dooku asked the eager younglings, who all quieted instantly.

"In a minute." Young Anakin had just finished his breakfast. He went to pick up his dish.

"I'll get that." Alex offered.

Anakin wiped his mouth one last time on the napkin and got up. He walked over to Dooku, then took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm ready. Don't know why I'm so nervous." Dooku tried to smile at him in comfort, but his own anxiety was simmering under the surface. The boy didn't even know how last ditch this effort was. Or that his grandmaster had formed such a drastic plan B.

Dooku typed in the contact the boy gave him. The machine buzzed as the line connected.

"Hello, Hello… Who is this?" Came the voice of a woman.

"Mom." Anakin named her. "Mom, I need to talk to Cliegg."

"Ani, aren't you supposed to be on a mission now?"

"I am, kinda. I need to talk to Cliegg. Is he there?"

"No, he's at a meeting. Can I speak with Obi-Wan?"

"Uh…" Anakin looked around in distress.

"Madam, hello." Dooku picked up the line in the silence. "My name is Master Dooku. Master Obi-Wan put me in-charge. It would help us and the mission if you helped us to contact your husband."

"Oh, okay." There was the sound of her shuffling around. "I can give you the line to his office. Like I said before, he's in a meeting, but if you call, someone should answer."

"Yes, that would help us very much." Dooku waited for her to rattle off the number, which he typed into the device.

"Thank you Mom," Anakin called out from behind Dooku, before he hung up.

"Okay, I think I will handle the next call. Political folks are a particular bunch." Dooku pushed the button to dial the next number.

"Hello, Senator Lars' office." came the high pitched, squeaky voice of youth.

"Getting younger every day," Dooku sighed. "Hello, this is Master Dooku of the Jedi Order. I would like to request a call-back, on this line, by Senator Lars on behalf of his step-son. And I'd like it to be done as soon as possible. This is urgent."

"Um, do you have a code?"

"Hi Rex. Actually, it's your Buir we really want to talk to. We need a little help." Anakin said, looking over Dooku's shoulder.

"Buir? He's on Tatooine, but I can message him. What is the time frame for this job?"

"Actually, the job is for your vode. We need a little help breaking and entering into the Temple," said Anakin.

Dooku spoke up, "The time frame is as soon as possible."

"Oh, Wow. Well, I'll give him your message and we'll call you back. He's probably going to take a bit of convincing, though. His last Jedi job didn't go too well."

"Tell him we are grateful he will give us the chance," Dooku responded. He didn't know the full story of how Tatooine got a Mandalorian clan to aid their senator, but this clan would be capable of helping them get into the Temple. Mandalorians are excellent warriors.

"Okay, bye Ani." Rex closed and then the line clicked as he hung up.

"That went well," Dooku said. "I'll go get Master Yoda." The grandmaster had insisted he be the one to negotiate with the clan leader. Dooku thought that was unnecessary, since he was the better negotiator. But then, if this Clan leader has a negative experience with other Jedi, having a familiar face there would definitely help.

"Bzzzzz Bzzzzz Bzzzzz" Dooku sat behind the machine when it started to ring.

"Calling back, they are." Yoda hummed as he stood up near the holocamera. Dooku perked up from where Yoda had insisted he sit, behind the camera. The younglings were all out with Siri shopping for supplies.

"Hello Grandmaster. My ad told me you have a request." The caller bowed. Dooku's eyes went wide. He recognized this Mandalorian. Jango Fett was a source of guilt for him. It was the council who sent Dooku to Galidraan, sure. But he was the senior most Master on that mission. He should've known to not take both sides at their words. Should never have handed Fett over to that governor. Sure, Fett had killed several Jedi, but they had his camp surrounded, and as it turns out, the man was just trying to defend his people.

"Deep into the under city, we need to go. Defense, we will need." Yoda started to explain.

Jango put his fingers on his chin. "With what my Ad says, you're probably looking for one of the old entrances to the Temple."

'He has an Ad now,' Dooku thought, recognizing the Mandalorian word for son. That news caused him a feeling of peace. His hopes rose that the man would be forgiving of him.

"That we are," Yoda confirmed. "Deep under the city, the old entrances lie. Rumored to be down there, many dangers are."

"What I don't understand is why not just use your main entrance. Go down from inside your temple. The way will be a lot safer."

"A safer way in, we do not have." Yoda looked down to avoid eye contact. "A security issue, we have. Get in, we must. To enter the temple, your younglings will not have to. Just get us to the door, we ask…"

Dooku stood up and stepped closer to the camera. Jango's eyes went wide with shock. "Master Fett, Yoda is being honest with you. Four Jedi were recently led into an old Sith temple on a mission. While there, we believe that they were affected by the place. Infected would be a better term, actually. My own former Padawan was one of them, and we were unable to prevent their return to the temple. Now, we just need to get in, so we can get another artifact from the archives and use it to restore things. Please…"

Jango furrowed his brow, and stared appraisingly at Dooku. He let out a sharp breath. "My ade were created for the Jedi. it seems it was always their fate to help you. I owe Qui-Gon the position I now have. Very well, I will have a group ready to meet you in a day."

"Yes, thank you." Dooku and Yoda both breathed a sigh of relief. Then Dooku inhaled again, "Wait. Created for the Jedi?"

"My ade, my clones were made as an army to defend the Jedi. You were the one to arrange it." Jango explained.

Dooku blinked several times, before letting out a surprised, "Oh." He could remember his old friend, Sifo-Dyas asking him to help with a project. 'What did Sifo want? Oh yeah.' He wanted to build an army to defend the Jedi, were his apocalyptic visions to come true. Syfo-Dyas was looking to recruit someone of good genetic strength, who had training to fight. Dooku had asked his senator friend Palpatine for advice, and Palpatine encouraged him to test the candidates, for choosing someone you would be afraid to face in battle would ensure the stronger party… Some philosophical nonsense about if they were strong enough to face a Jedi in battle, they'd be able to defend one. Anyways, Dooku had chosen Jango because of the whole line about being afraid to face him in battle. He had faced Jango in battle before, and was quite impressed by his skills. Not to mention the fact that he felt he owed him something. Anyways, he had referred Jango to the Kaminoens, who his friend was working with, and then hadn't heard from him since. He'd assumed Jango would be training whoever Sifo-Dyas recruited, but then if the Kaminoens were involved, Cloning was more likely. He should've known! He'd smack himself later for it.

"Think we needed an army, the Jedi did not. But fate, it seems, has other arrangements. Thank you for your help, we do." Yoda closed the connection and the holo of Jango faded.

"Surprised by this, you are?" Yoda turned to him to ask.

"I am."

"Intended to talk to you about this, the council did. Get around to it, we did not." Yoda said. "A shock it was, to learn about an army made for us in secret. Glad it was not done in ill will, I am."

"Ill will, no. Sifo-Dyas had been having dreams. He thought a war was coming and was worried the Jedi would be caught ill prepared. All I did was refer to him a warrior capable of defending us. He had other political aids to help him fund it and they probably kept it hidden after…" After his death went unspoken.

"Wondered long about this, I have. Great relief, this gives me." Yoda said, and Dooku could feel his honesty.

"Wait…" Dooku was near some truth. The Force hummed with resolution in his ears. "The Sith Master. The one who died before I… Darth Jar Jar initially sent me some files from his Master's computer, detailing a plan to form a droid army and lead a secessionist movement. Anyway, in his files, he anticipated the enemy, who I take to mean the Jedi, would be leading an army of clones." Dooku shook his head. "No, it's impossible. How could the Sith have figured out about Sifo-Dyas's plans? Unless he was one of our political aids? Yoda? Yoda…" Dooku stopped when he realized the old master had stopped breathing, and was going quite pale.

Yoda struggled for breath. "Senator Palpatine, the old sith was."

"Senator Palpatine, no. I met with the man many times. He was one of my most trusted confidants, outside of the order."

"Notice him, many Jedi did not. Until great evil, he would have done. Used us both, to fight each other, he would have. Until both, he could destroy. Then control everything, he would."

"We have a day to prepare for phase two. We should go make sure everyone is ready," Dooku suggested, not sure what to make of the master's sudden revelation.

"Yes. Teach the younglings to shield, you still need to." Yoda reminded him, and Dooku rolled his eyes.

Jango walked up and down the ship's gangway. When he told his Ade about the Jetii's request, a number of them volunteered, and he had a whole battalion with him now. But he was still the one planning this mission, and there was a lot he was responsible for. "Do I have the masks? Of course I do, they're under the blasters in the hold." He told himself, as he went over the list in his mind.

"Buir. Buir," a pair of small hands tried to pull him out of his thoughts.

"Uur, Ad." he purred. "I will go once we arrive on Coruscant. I have work to do here."

"Buir, that's what I'm trying to tell you. We are at Coruscant now." Copikla'Ulik, his little animal, exasperated.

Jango looked at the clock, and indeed it had been several hours already. "Okay, I'm coming. Tell your Vode to make a line outside of the hold. I will pass out their equipment first."

"Yes, Buir." Copikla'Ulik scurried away. Jango folded up the maps he had of the undercity and headed out. He knew his ade would not be patient for long.

Hello Readers,

As I mentioned in my last chapter notes, has been having some issues lately. I will continue to publish here for as long as I can, but should the inevitable happen, I do have an account on AO3- Archive of Our Own, as well. My username is the same there as well as the story titles. Anyways, we don't yet have Stats, so if you want me to know you read this, please leave me a review. The site should be sending emails again, but just in case, you might want to check your account settings to make sure you are still set to receive updates. Every once in a while the thing can reset.

Jango's ad. Copikla'ulik, is a combination of two words in Mandalorian and is the best thing I could get to count for the clone's nickname in Canon. I do plan to reveal it in my next chapter, but If any of you can guess who he is, I'll wink at you. I had to use a Mandalorian dictionary I found online. The translators I was using do translate the words differently though, so I don't know if I am accurate or not.

I did try researching the undercity, and what I do may not be entirely Canon or Legends accurate, but I hope it will satisfy. Hopefully the part will only be a small part until they get into the Temple anyways.