xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
CIS flagship, Invisible Hand.
In a forward hold of Grievous's flagship, Dooku watched the cyborg general duel with his elite MagnaGuards, three of his trophy lightsabers in constant motion, parrying thrusts of the guards' pulse-weaponed staffs, slicing the recycled air a hairbreadth from the expressionless faces of his opponents, incapacitating arm and leg servos when he could. Grievous was a force to be reckoned with, to be sure, but Dooku deplored his habit of collecting lightsabers. It had merely bothered him that Ventress and lesser combatants had adopted the foul practice. Grievous's habit struck Dooku as the worst kind of profanation. Even so, he was not about to discourage the practice. The more Jedi that could be dispatched, the better.
The only aspect of Grievous's technique that vexed him more was the general's penchant for using four blades. Two was bad enough-in the form they had been used by Darth Maul, or in Anakin Skywalker's sad attempt to employ the technique on Geonosis.
But three?
What was to become of elegance and gallantry if a duelist couldn't make do with one blade?
Well, what had become of elegance and gallantry, in any case?
Grievous was fast, and so were his IG 100-series sparring partners. They had the advantage of size and brute strength. They executed moves almost faster than the human eye could follow. Their thrusts and lunges demonstrated a singular lack of hesitancy. Once committed to a maneuver, they never faltered. They never stopped to recalculate their actions. Their weapons went exactly where they meant them to go. And they always aimed for points beyond their opponents in order to slice clear through.
Dooku had taught Grievous well, and Grievous had taught his elite well. Coupled with Dooku's coaching, their programming in the seven classic forms of lightsaber dueling-in the Jedi arts-made them lethal opponents. But they were not invincible, not even Grievous, because they could be confused by unpredictability, and they had no understanding of finesse. A player of dejarik could memorize all the classic openings and countermoves, and still not be a master of the game. Defeat often came at the hands of less experienced players who knew nothing about the traditional strategies. A professional fighter, a combat artist, could be defeated by a cantina brawler who knew nothing about form but everything about ending a conflict quickly, without a thought to winning gracefully or elegantly.
Enslavement to form opened one to defeat by the unforeseen.
This was often the failing of trained duelists, and it would be the failing of the Jedi Order.
Given that elegance, gallantry, and enchantment were gone from the galaxy, it was only fitting that the Order's days were numbered; that the fire that had been the Jedi was guttering and dying out. As with the corrupt Republic itself, the Order's time had come. The noble Jedi, bound to the Force, sworn to uphold peace and justice, were seldom seen as heroes or saviors any longer, but more often as bullies or mobsters.
Still, it was sad that it had fallen to Dooku to help usher them out.
The conversation he had had with Yoda on dreary Vjun was never far from his thoughts these days. For all his flair with words, all his Force-given personal power, Yoda was nothing more than an old one, unwilling to embrace anything new, indisposed to see any way but his own. Yet how terrible not simply to fade away but to expire in full knowledge that the galaxy had tipped inexorably and at long last to the dark side, to the Sith, and might remain so for as long as the Jedi themselves had ruled.
The unforeseen…
Grievous and his guards were dancing. Going through their programmed motions.
An Ataro attack answered by Shü-Cho; Soresu answered by Lus-ma…
Dooku couldn't suffer another moment of it.
"No, no, stop, stop," he yelled, coming to his feet and striding to the middle of the training circle, his arms extended to both sides. When he was certain that he had their attention, he swung to Grievous. "Power moves served you well on Hypori against Jedi such as Daakman Barrek and Tarr Seir. But I pity you should you have to face off against any of the Council Masters." He called into hand his courtly, curve-handled lightsaber and drew a rapid X in the air-a Makashi flourish. "Do I need to demonstrate what responses you can expect from Cin Drallig or Obi-Wan Kenobi? From Mace Windu or, stars help you, Yoda?"
He flicked his blade quickly, ridding two of the guards of their staffs, then placing the glowing tip a millimeter from Grievous's death-helmeted visage. "Finesse. Artfulness. Economy. Otherwise, my friend, I fear that you will end up beyond the repair of even the Geonosians. Do you take my meaning?"
His vertically slit eyes unfathomable, Grievous nodded.
"I take your meaning, my lord."
Dooku withdrew his blade. "Again, then. With some measure of polish, if I'm not asking for too much."
Dooku seated himself and watched them go at it.
Hopeless, he thought.
But he knew that he was partly to blame. He had made the same mistake with Grievous that he had made with Ventress, by allowing her to fill herself with hate, as if hate could substitute for dispassion.
Even the most hateful could be defeated. Even the most angry. There should be no emotion in killing, no self, only the act. When he should have been helping Ventress rid herself of self, he had instead permitted her to grow impassioned. Sidious had once confessed that he had erred similarly in his training of Darth Maul. Ventress and Maul had been driven by a desire to excel-to be the best-instead of merely allowing themselves to be pure instruments of the dark side.
The Jedi knew this about the Force: that the best of them were nothing more than instruments.
Dooku grew troubled.
Was Sidious thinking the same of him now? Thinking: This is where I failed poor Dooku. Pitiful creature…
It was entirely possible, considering how wrong things had gone on Naos III. Standard days earlier, Dooku had sent Sidious a coded transmission that was as much apology as explanation, and had yet to hear from him.
He watched Grievous disarm two of the MagnaGuards.
In fact, Grievous was all instrument.
And Dooku. What was Count Dooku of Serenno?
He glanced at the hold's holoprojector table a moment before a blue holoimage of Sidious appeared above it.
My time is at hand, he told himself as he centered himself proudly on the transmission grid, Grievous behind him, down on one knee, with head lowered.
"My lord," he said, bowing slightly at the waist. "I've been waiting."
"There have been matters that warranted my close attention, Lord Tyranus."
"Born, no doubt, of my failure at Naos Three. The ones I sent had every opportunity to kill Kenobi and Skywalker, and their informant. Instead, they decided to attempt their capture, to extract additional funds from me, as well as to bolster their reputations."
Sidious was dismissive. "Such is the way of bounty hunters. I should have foreseen this."
Dooku blinked. Was this an admission of failure on Sidious's part? Was Sidious's upper lip twitching, or was it nothing more than noise in the transmission?
"The Force is strong in Skywalker," Sidious went on.
"Yes, my lord. Very strong. Next time I will deal with the Jedi personally."
"Yes, that time is drawing near, Lord Tyranus. But first we need to provide the Jedi with something that distracts them from hunting me."
Sidious's upper lip was definitely twitching. Was this worry? Worry from someone fond of saying that things were going precisely as planned?
"What has happened, my lord?"
"The Jedi's informant led them to our rendezvous on Coruscant," Sidious said in a scurrilous voice.
Dooku was stunned. "Is there a greater danger?"
"They think they have my scent, Lord Tyranus, and perhaps they do."
"Can you leave Coruscant, my lord?"
From parsecs distant, Sidious stared at him. "Leave Coruscant?"
"For a time, my lord. Surely we can find some way."
Sidious fell silent for a long moment, then said: "Perhaps, Lord Tyranus. Perhaps."
"If not, then I will come to you."
Sidious shook his head. "That won't be necessary. I told you that their search for me would benefit us before too long, and thanks to you I begin to see a way."
"What is thy bidding, Master?" Grievous asked from behind Dooku.
Sidious turned slightly toward Grievous, but continued to speak to Dooku. "The Jedi have divided their forces. We must do the same. I will deal with the ones on Coruscant. I need you to deal with the rest."
"My fleet stands ready, Master," Grievous said, still without raising his gaze from the grid.
"The Republic is monitoring you?" Sidious asked the general.
"Yes, Master."
"Can you divide the fleet-judiciously?"
"It can be done, Master."
"Good, good. Then move however many ships are needed to crush and occupy Tythe."
Again Dooku was stunned. So, too, was Grievous.
"Is that wise, Master," the general asked carefully, "after what happened at Belderone?"
Grievous was of course referring to how the stunted slime Viceroy had forgotten his mechno-chair on Cato Neimoidia, and the Republic were able to use its communication device to listen in on Separatist channels, and ambush Grievous' fleet.
Sidious adopted a faint grin. "More than wise, General. Inspired."
"But Tythe, my lord," Dooku said with equal care. "Less a world than a corpse."
"It has some strategic value, does it not, General?"
"As a jump point, Master. But a dubious prize, regardless, when far better targets exist."
"It may prove costly to us, my lord. The Republic will almost certainly flatten it," Dooku said.
"Not if the Jedi are convinced that it must be retaken rather than destroyed."
Confusion wrinkled Dooku's forehead. "How will we convince them?"
"We won't have to, Lord Tyranus. Their own investigations will lead them to that conclusion. Moreover, Kenobi and Skywalker will oversee the counterattack."
"Indeed, my lord?"
"They will not pass up an opportunity to capture Count Dooku."
Dooku saw Grievous's armorplast head elevate in surprise. "What leads you to believe that the Republic will not simply flatten me at this point?"
"The Jedi are predictable, Lord Tyranus. I needn't tell you this. Look what they risked on Cato Neimoidia in an effort to capture Viceroy Gunray. They are obsessed with bringing their enemies to justice, instead of merely administering justice themselves."
"It is their way."
"Then you don't mind serving as bait to lure them there?"
Dooku inclined his head. "As ever, I am at your disposal, my lord."
Sidious grinned once more. "Hold Kenobi and Skywalker, Lord Tyranus. Entertain them. Play to their weakness. Demonstrate your mastery, as you have on previous occasions."
Grievous made a meaningful sound. "I will do the same with their warships, Master."
"No, General," Sidious cut in. "I have something else in mind for you and the rest of the fleet. But tell me, can you tuck your charges somewhere safe for the time being?"
"The planet Utapau comes to mind, Lord Sidious."
"I will leave that to you."
"And when I have seen to that, Master?"
"General, I'm certain you recall the plans we discussed some time ago, regarding the final stage of the war."
"Regarding Coruscant."
"Regarding Coruscant, yes." Sidious paused, then said: "We must accelerate those plans. Prepare, General, for what will be your finest hour."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yerbana, Outer Rim, Savareen sector.
The Republic is under siege.
Far out in the Outer Rim, separatists forces under the command of the droid General Grievous have launched a devastating assault in several sectors. Soon, Republic forces are pushed to the brink, already spread thin from the Outer Rim sieges.
In response to this overwhelming offensive, the Jedi Council has despatched its best generals, and stripped many of its Core defense fleets in order to bolster their forces at the front. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are among them, pulled from their search for Darth Sidious to hold back the tidal wave of separatist forces.
On the distant planet Yerbana, which has been contested for many weeks before, clone forces of the 212th under the commander of Commander Cody have been re-deployed to this region.
Many gunships are dispatched from warships in low orbit to deploy fresh troops and provide air support. On the surface below, are vast chasms and rocky cliffs, connected only by a single suspension bridge leading to the capital city, which the separatists are currently holding with Octuptarra droids, AAT tanks, and many other droid models in the Separatists bottomless arsenal.
To make matters worse, the city was protected by a massive shield dome, which kept the Republic forces from being able to bombard the droid hangers and small factories that have been set up recently, allowing the CIS to restock their bottomless arsenal.
The Republic has been trying to break these defenses for a month, launching several probing strikes and massive artillery barrages. But to no avail.
High above, squadrons of Vulture and Tri-droid fighters are deployed from the separatist controlled city on the other side of the bridge. They unleash a hail of blaster fire on the exposed gunships, forcing them to break off and allow their escorts to fight off this new threat.
A dogfight ensues, and ARC-170 star-fighters engage in a deadly waltz in the sky. But despite their best efforts, a single Tri-fighter droid slips through and unleashes a hail of blaster fire which sheers the port-side wing off of a gunship. The ship spins out of control, before slamming into one of the large support beams that hold the bridge together, causing a tremendous explosion.
Commander Cody's men struggle to hold the two large siege towers on either side of the Separatist end of the bridge close to the city, but well within the CIS's umbrella of fire, and wall outside the Republic's.
As the droid army makes its advance across the bridge, Cody's famous Squad Seven begins to pick off the droids at the top with their precise blaster shots. Hundreds of droids fall, but thousands take their place. Droid tanks and walkers are getting closer, now able to start picking off the Republic artillery emplacements
More ships touched down, deploying the heavy artillery desperately needed to hold the span.
"Take cover! Take cover!" Cody shouts out to his men, before charging forward with them, firing his DC-15 blaster as he went.
As the clones tried to dash for better cover, artillery fire from the enemy rained down all over them. Packs of clones were soon wiped out, but they continued to hold their ground.
"Look out, Look out!"
"Aim for their eyes!"
"Man down!"
The veteran clone commander watched as a repeating blaster crew was overwhelmed and killed at their post by a swarm of droids. He charged at a squad of battle droids, bashing them to the ground with his rifle stock, before finishing them off with blaster fire.
He then jumped behind the repeater and pulled the trigger, gunning down a score of droids with it, including a dwarf spider droid, which exploded, but not before he was able to jump away and behind cover. The droid took his turret with it.
The tanks had
"Fall Back! Fall back to the other side of the bridge!" Cody ordered.
As his men fell back, while he and Squad Seven engaged in a rear-guard action to slow the droid advance.
As he fired his DC-15 one handed, he spoke into his wrist comm. "Admiral!" The droids are advancing across the bridge. "We need fire support immediately."
"I'm sorry commander," Yularen said. "But we can't. The shield dome is still protecting the city. We won't be able to make a dent."
"Then target the bridge! We can't let the seps cross."
There was a long pause.
"Acknowledged. Commander it's been an honor."
Deep below the surface, in the sewer system Yerbana city, Anakin and Obi-Wan waded through waist deep water that was full of ancient debris, on their mission to disable the shield. Obi-Wan looked at his surroundings as he followed Anakin through the debris filled sewer.
"What an incredible smell you've discovered," Obi-Wan said sarcastically.
Anakin smiled.
A little while later, the pair came up on a wall of debris that appears to have collapsed long ago, blocking the tunnel and apparently cutting off the two Jedi.
"What now?" Obi-Wan asked.
"We swim," Anakin said as he dove into the water.
"I knew you were going to say that," Obi-Wan said before he followed his apprentice under the water.
A few moments later, on the other side of the cave in, the two Jedi Knights poked their heads out of the water. They swam over to a pile of rocks and use them to climb out of the water. They then came up on a pair of ladders. One was severely damaged, so they both had to take the other one. They grabbed a hold of the ladder and began to climb up and out of the sewer.
A little while later, at the top of the ladder, Anakin gently lifted the manhole cover to reveal a massive room filled with battle droids. They were all guarding a massive power generator that beamed and hummed with red energy. If this thing was knocked out, then the shield would deactivate. Thus allowing the Clone army outside to swarm in and wipe out the enemy forces.
Obi-Wan climbed up next to him.
"Let's go," Anakin said, grabbing his lightsaber hilt.
Obi-Wan reacted quickly.
"No no no no, wait!" He whispered before he yanked Anakin back down into the manhole.
Two battle droids, who had their backs facing the room, and the manhole cover, were standing guard.
"Did you say something?" One asked.
"Negative," the other responded.
Back underneath the manhole, Anakin opened it back up to get a peak of the room with his former master.
"There are alternatives to fighting," Obi-wan said as he reached down to his utility belt. He pressed a button on one of the pouches, causing it to pour a handful of marble shaped objects into Obi-Wan's other hand. He dumped them onto the ledge in front of them. He then used the force to gently push them across the room.
"That's no fun," Anakin said softly.
The small spherical objects that Obi-Wan deployed fanned out and rolled across the room, passing by the feet of several unsuspecting battle droids. Eventually, they rolled up right in front of the shield generator itself.
For a moment, nothing happened. Suddenly, each sphere went up in a powerful explosion which overtook the entire room.
The generator and the droids guarding it were all wiped out. Obi-Wan and Anakin dove back down into the sewer to escape the blast.
Their mission was accomplished.
Back outside, as Cody and his men prepared to accept their fate, the shield dome began to crackle quite loudly ahead of them. Everyone looked to see that it was flickering wildly. Then it finally fizzled out and dropped completely, leaving the city wide open.
The clones were all dumbstruck.
The droids even more so, halting their advance entirely.
Cody brought his wrist comm to his faceplate again. "Admiral, cancel fire mission! The shield is down! I repeat, the shield is down!"
"Acknowledged, Commander."
Moments later, the gloomy gray clouds above began to glow blue, before powerful turbo-laser blasts shot out of them, raining down upon several points on the surface within the city, destroying star-fighter hangers, tank depots, and small droid factories. Then more blasts rained down on the end of the bridge, wiping out the droid army.
Cody waved his men forward. "FORWARD!" He then charged forwards with his men, blasting at enemy droids that were still fighting.
"You heard him lads, let's go!"
"Move it, move it!"
"That's the stuff!"
Soon, AT-TE walkers, BARC speeders, TX-130 hover tanks, and hundreds of fresh troops began to march across the bridge behind Cody's men. Heavy artillery pieces on the Republic side of the valley were hammering away at the enemy forces on the other side, weakening the city's outer defenses, allowing hundreds of Republic star-fighters to swarm over the city and strafe the CIS positions.
Amidst the chaos of the battle, no one noticed two Jedi Knights emerge from a sewer exit and begin casually walking back towards the Republic line. As they walked back, Obi-Wan placed a complimentary hand on Anakin's shoulder.
"Nice job, my friend. Nice Job."
Anakin smiled.
Suddenly, Anakin's com-link started to blink and chirp, indicating an incoming message. He answered it.
"Skywalker here."
"Sir, we've received a transmission from the Chancellor's officer." Admiral Yularen said, reporting from the RSD Vigilance in orbit. "He wants to speak with you as soon as possible."
Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at each other.
"Alright Admiral. I'll be right there."
Republic base, communications center.
As big as life, Palpatine's holoimage spoke from atop a projector table in a private comlink lounge aboard the medical frigate. With R2-D2 standing off to one side of the transmission grid, Anakin hung on the Supreme Chancellor's every word.
"Of course, the Council doesn't understand," Palpatine said. "Surely you don't find that surprising."
"They reject every suggestion I make-on principle, I'm beginning to think."
"It's obvious that you're upset, Anakin, but you must be patient. Your time will come."
"When, sir?"
Palpatine smiled lightly. "I can't see into the future, my boy."
Anakin's face contorted. "What if I told you that I could?"
"I would believe you," Palpatine said without pause. "Tell me what you see."
"Coruscant."
"Are we in danger?"
"I'm not certain. I just feel that I need to be there."
Palpatine gazed away from the holocam. "I suppose I could invent some pretext…" His gaze returned to Anakin. "But is that wise?"
"I'm not the wise one. Ask anybody."
"What does Master Kenobi say?"
Anakin blew out his breath. "Obi-Wan is under the illusion that I can't deny my destiny, no matter what I do."
"Your former Master is wiser than you think, Anakin."
"Yes, yes, and he is the only Jedi in a thousand years to have killed a Sith."
Palpatine spread his hands. "That alone has to count for something. Though I'm at a loss to know precisely what."
"Obi-Wan is wise. But he can be cold-hearted, sir. He sees everything in terms of the Force."
"If you want advice about the Force, you must look to him, because I'm of no help."
"That's exactly what I don't want. I live in the Force, but I also live in the real world. I came from… the real world. Just as you said, I had the advantage of a normal childhood. Well, sort of."
Palpatine waited until he was certain Anakin was finished. "My boy, I don't know that it's healthy to have a foot in each world. Soon you may have to make a choice."
Anakin nodded. "I'm ready."
Palpatine smiled again. "But back to the matter at hand, in light of the recent Separatist counter-attack, they seem to have a particular interest in capturing the planet Tythe. Normally this wouldn't draw much attention, were it not for the fact that Count Dooku has been sighted on the planet. It sounds to me as if the recapture of this world could prove very important toward ending the war. I don't understand all of it. The Jedi Council is being very secretive with me."
Anakin fought the temptation to reveal everything about the search for Darth Sidious. He glanced at R2-D2, as if expecting commiseration, but the astromech only swiveled his dome, his processor status indicator flashing from blue to red.
Finally Anakin said: "I don't know what to do, sir."
Palpatine adopted a sympathetic expression. "It's decided. I shall prevail upon the Council to order you back to the Core. No one needs further proof of how intrepid you are, or how committed you are to defeating our enemies."
'In time you will learn to trust your feelings; then you will be invincible.' Palpatine's advice to him, three years earlier.
"No," Anakin said in a rush. "No. Thank you, sir, but… I'm needed on Tythe. Dooku is there."
I'm sorry, Padme. I'm so, so sorry. I miss you so much-
"Yes," Palpatine was saying. "Dooku is the key to everything just now. Despite all our victories in the inner systems… Do you suspect he and General Grievous may have some secret strategy?"
"If they do, Obi-Wan and I will defeat them before they can implement it."
"The Republic counts on it."
"Safeguard Coruscant, sir. Safeguard everyone there."
"I will, my boy. And rest assured that I will call on you if I need you."
Obi-Wan was in the Republic base's docking bay, waiting for the shuttle that would take him to the light cruiser Integrity. His arms were folded across his chest, and his small rucksack was sitting on the deck.
"Did you get through to him?" he asked as Anakin and R2-D2 approached.
"Well, I spoke to him."
"That's what I meant. And?"
Anakin averted his gaze. "We both decided that my place is here, Master." He sounded on the verge of tears.
Obi-Wan merely nodded. "For a moment I thought you were going to leave it to me to retake Tythe."
Anakin looked at him. "I know better than that."
"You don't think I'm capable?" Obi-Wan asked around a forming grin.
"I know you'd be willing to die trying."
"There is no trying-"
"Yes, there is," Anakin cut him off. "And you're living proof of it."
Obi-Wan smiled, then glanced out the hold's magcon transparency. "The shuttle's coming."
Anakin's eyes tracked the approaching light. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." He still wasn't smiling.
Obi-Wan closed his hand around Anakin's upper right arm. "Anakin, let's get Dooku and end this."
Anakin swallowed and nodded. "If it's meant to be, Master."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Coruscant, the Works.
Fifty meters ahead of Mace in the tunnel, Ahsoka Tano held up her hand, motioning for him to stop. Angling his purple blade to the floor, Mace turned to relay the signal to the commandos behind him.
Ahsoka's whisper reached him through the Force: 'Movement ahead.'
She gestured to the mouth of an intersecting tunnel just beyond where she stood, her profile highlighted green by the glow of her raised lightsaber. Faint light spilled from the opening, as if someone with a handheld luma was approaching on foot.
Mace waved a signal to Commander Valiant, whose team moved forward stealthily, hugging the walls, their T-visor helmets allowing them to see in the dark.
Normally the probe droids would have the point, playing their lights and sensors across the dusty floor and tiled walls, sending data to Dyne and his team of analysts. Mace and Ahsoka Tano would ride in separate speeders behind the agents, intermingled with those of the commandos. Occasionally, however, the Jedi would assume the lead on foot for a couple of kilometers, usually in response to some anomaly discovered by the droids. Ventilation, such as it was, came courtesy of ancient blowers that did little more than drag in the sooty air from above, and illumination was provided by what the team brought with them.
They were deep below an area of The Works called the Grungeon Block. Encompassing twenty square kilometers, the block had originally been a production center for Serv-O-Droid, Huvicko, and Nebula Manufacturing, but it had fallen on hard times when its three principal clients had declared bankruptcy. Unable to attract new businesses, the developers who owned the Grungeon had allowed stratts and other vermin to overrun the stamping plants, and cashed out.
In the days since the raid, Mace's team had searched nearly every nook and cranny of the confusion of tunnels and shafts that undermined the Grungeon and similar assembly areas. Ten kilometers into the tunnel that led to the LiMerge building's sub-basement, a shaft had been found, leading to a deeper, older tunnel that also ran east toward the Senate District. In appearance the parallel tunnels were similar, save for the fact that the floor of the older one hosted an ancient mag-lev rail.
The probe droids had discovered places along the rail where the accumulated decades of dust and debris had been blown away by the rapid passage of a repulsorlift vehicle of some sort. With no other clues to go on, the team had made the mag-lev tunnel the focus of the investigation.
Still, Mace felt that the team was on the right track.
An extensive search of the LiMerge building had revealed the remains of several Trang Robotics Duelist Elite droids that had been reduced to durasteel pieces by a lightsaber. Only Sidious, Dooku, or Sidious's previous apprentice could have performed the amputations.
And there was more.
Shortly before Dooku had left the Jedi Order to return to his native Serenno-during the period when he had taken he title Count and had first gone public with his discontents about the Republic-he had been known to frequent a tavern called the Golden Cuff, which had been a watering hole for Senators, lobbyists, and aides. Analysts at the Temple were going through files of security cam holoimages thirteen years old, hoping to find images of Dooku and anyone he may have met with repeatedly.
Thus far, no images of Dooku had surfaced in the recordings that had survived. Even if images of Dooku's tavern mates did surface, the Jedi had no means of identifying any of them as Darth Sidious, but the images could provide an additional starting point for further investigation.
By now Mace could hear movement and soft voices ahead.
Hardly a good tactic for hostiles intent on springing an ambush, but one never knew. He stretched out with his feelings, alert for diversions or clues he might have overlooked-obscured by the dark side, or owing to his own neglect.
Standing nearby, Valiant looked to Mace for the go signal.
When Mace nodded, Valiant said: "Light it up!"
Weapons raised, gas and fragmentation grenades enabled, the commandos sprinted into the intersecting tunnel, firing tracer bolts into the gloom.
Tight on their heels, Mace heard Valiant yell: "Down on the floor! Don't move! I said, don't move!"
More fire erupted, then several commando voices were shouting: "Stay still! Down on your faces! Hands up-all four of them!"
All four of them? Mace thought.
Edging through the commandos, he reached Valiant, whose BlasTech was aimed at a cowering crowd of thirty or so four-armed insectoid aliens, who were babbling in some language other than Basic, or speaking it with an accent so
thick as to make their words unintelligible.
"Lower your weapons," Mace told the commandos. "And someone bring that interpreter droid forward!"
Mace's command was relayed down the line, and a moment later a highly polished silver protocol droid tottered into the tunnel, muttering to itself.
"I don't understand how I've gone from serving the Separatists to serving the Republic. Did I undergo a partial memory wipe?"
"Consider yourself lucky," one of the commandos said. "Now you're on the side of the good guys."
"Good guys, bad guys… who can tell anymore? What's more, you won't be so quick to say that should someone compel you to shift loyalties at a moment's notice."
"Droid!" Mace shouted.
"I do have a name, sir."
Mace glanced at Valiant.
"TeeCee something or other," the ARC said.
"Fine," Mace said, grabbing hold of TC-16 and pointing him in the direction of the terrified aliens. "See if you can make sense of what these folk are saying."
The droid listened to the babbling, responded in kind, and turned to face Mace. "They are Unets, General. Speaking their native language, which is called Une."
Mace regarded the huddled, shivering group. "What are they doing down here?"
TC-16 listened, then said: "They say that they haven't the slightest idea where they are, General. They arrived on Coruscant in a shipping container that was airdropped at a decrepit landing platform some twenty kilometers from here. The personage who was to have guided them into the depths of the Uscru Sector stole all their credits and abandoned them in The Works."
"Undocumented refugees," Valiant said.
Mace frowned. The tunnels beneath the Grungeon Block held countless surprises.
"They almost got themselves killed."
"Apparently that's nothing new for them," TC-16 said. "Their planet fell to the Separatists, the freighter they originally took passage on was attacked by pirates, several of them."
"That's enough," Mace said. "Assure them that they're not going to be harmed, and that we'll see to it they reach a refugee camp." He nodded to Valiant, who in turn told two of his troopers to carry out Mace's command.
"Talk about your corridor ghouls," Dyne said, eyeing the aliens as he approached Mace.
"Squatters, death stick runners, lost droids, now undocumented refugees…"
"Next it'll be Cthons," Dyne said, referring to the flesh-eating humanoids believed by many Coruscanti to inhabit the world's underground.
Ahsoka Tano joined them. "These corridors are highways for people who want to enter central Coruscant illegally."
Dyne sighed in disappointment. "Our chances for picking up Sidious's trail decrease with each person who passes."
"How far are we from the Senate District?" Ahsoka asked.
"Within a couple of kilometers," Dyne said. "We might think about going directly to the buildings LiMerge Power once owned in the city core, and see if we can't work our way toward The Works from those."
Mace considered the idea, then shook his head.
"Not yet."
Mace waved everyone back into motion, then fell into step with Ahsoka.
"Wild gundark chase?"
She nodded. "Only because our quarry is aware that we're closing in on him. He failed to silence the ones Obi-Wan and Anakin searched out, and by now he knows that we've discovered his and Dooku's den. It's unlikely he will wait around for us to surprise him."
"That's true. But there's much to gain from simply identifying him. If not here, then by means of something Obi-Wan and Anakin will discover out in the Rim."
"Assuming there's anything left after Dooku sterilizes the place. From everything we've seen, Sidious and Dooku don't make many mistakes."
They walked in silence for a long while. They were a kilometer closer to the outlying areas of the Senate District when Dyne called to them from behind.
Mace saw that the Intelligence analysts and commandos were gathered some twenty meters away. He and Ahsoka had been so engrossed in their private thoughts that neither of them had noticed the probe droids stopping to investigate something. Joining the others, the Jedi watched the droids hover with clear purpose in front of a large niche in the tunnel wall.
Dyne's handheld sensor needed only a moment to discover a small control panel that operated the niche's sliding door.
The door concealed the entrance to a narrow, dimly lit corridor.
And all but hiding in plain sight: a repulsorlift speeder bike, semicircular in design, with an arc of a concentric seat and a single steering handle.
Mace and Ahsoka Tano traded astonished looks.
"How did we miss seeing this?" she asked.
Mace's brow furrowed. "The answer is in the question."
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Coruscant, underground tunnel network, Senate district.
With assistance from the probe droids, the discolored panels at the end of the corridor unlocked and parted. Brown robe swirling behind him and lightsaber in hand, Mace barreled through the doorway, with Shaak Ti and the commandos close behind.
By rote the troopers spread out, quickly and efficiently, but also unnecessarily.
"Surprise," Ahsoka Tano said flatly. "Another corridor."
"Another corridor closer," Mace said, determined to put a good spin on it.
The tunnel the team had followed from the hidden niche had led them through a maze of twists, turns, forks, steep climbs, and sudden drops. For stretches the dark corridor had been wide enough to contain a speeder; then it grew so narrow that everyone had had to edge through. For two kilometers, walls, ceiling, and floor were damp from water that had trickled down through Coruscant's layered surface. There, the prints of their prey had disappeared, but the probe droids had managed to pick up the trail farther along. Some of the prints were so recent and well preserved that Dyne had been able to calculate the human's slipper size.
Human.
That much the droids had determined from smudged fingerprints found on the speeder bike's steering grip and cushioned seat. The repulsorlift machine had also provided the droids with fibers, hairs, and other detritus. Slowly, a portrait of Dooku's unknown confederate was being compiled.
His eyes fixed on the display screen of his data processor, Captain Dyne ambled toward Mace and Ahsoka.
"Master Jedi, our search is about to take us to a whole new level."
Mace looked around the tunnel for signs of a concealed turbolift or staircase.
"Up or down?" Ahsoka asked, equally bewildered.
Dyne glanced up, blinking at her. "I didn't mean 'new level' in the literal sense." He indicated the hovering probe droids, which were eager to have the team follow them east. "If the prints lead us far enough, we're going to end up in the sub-basements of 500 Republica."
Mace tracked the droids as they moved deeper into the corridor.
Five Hundred Republica: home to thousands of Coruscant's wealthiest Senators, celebrities, shipping magnates, and media tycoons.
And one of them, very possibly a Sith Lord.
With its fifty-three skydocks, hundreds of private turbolifts, arrays of hidden security armaments, and towering atria, 500 Republica was a world unto itself. Containing more technology than many Outer Rim worlds and more residents than some, the sky-piercing structure was the unrivaled gem of the Senate District, and the elegant cynosure of the district's prestigious Ambassadorial Sector.
What had begun as a stately building in the classic style had, over the course of centuries, become a veritable mountain of steps and setbacks-some with flat roofs, others as gently rounded as shoulders, and still others as massive as any structure in the district. Up and up they climbed, profuse, organic, in seeming competition for Coruscant's sunlight, culminating in a graceful crown, banded with penthouses and topped by a lithe spire. Gilded by the rising sun, its head in the clouds, buttressed by the towers that had allowed it to outgrow all its neighbors, 500 Republica was the lofty vantage from which a privileged few could actually gaze down on Coruscant.
Which was precisely why the building had become the landmark the galaxy's disenfranchised pointed to when they spoke of Coruscant's disproportionate wealth and elitism. Why 500 Republica was viewed by many as more emblematic of the bloated, indulgent Senate than the Senate's own squat mushroom of a home.
Mace could feel the oppressive weight of the structure bearing down on him as the team entered 500 Republica's level-one sub-basement-square kilometers of supportive ferrocrete and durasteel, crammed with whining, whirring machines that kept the tower stable, aloft, secure, climate-controlled, and supplied with water and power. As deep as it was,
the sub-basement was still a hundred meters above Coruscant's true underground, and twice that above the original surface of the planet.
The team had had to wait hours for Republica security to grant them permission to enter and carry on with the investigation. For a time, Mace had considered appealing to Palpatine for permission, since the Supreme Chancellor had an upper-level suite in the building. For company, the probe droids had scores of custodial and maintenance droids, but the trail to Sidious had gone cold.
Lost among countless footprints that covered the floor.
"Unless we can find prints that say otherwise, there's no guarantee our quarry gained entrance to the sub-basement from Five Hundred Republica itself," Dyne pronounced, switching his handheld processor to standby mode. "He may have entered from the tunnels that connect to the east or west skydocks."
"In other words, he could have arrived here from just about anywhere on Coruscant," Ahsoka said.
Dyne nodded. "Presumably."
Mace gazed down the tunnel the team had taken.
"Could we have missed something along the way?"
"The droids wouldn't."
Mace gestured to the smudged and stained ferrocrete floor. "Why would the prints suddenly end right here?"
Dyne compressed his lips and shook his head. "Maybe someone carried him here by repulsorlift. Unless you're suggesting he levitated across the floor." He thought about it for a long moment, then said: "All right, for the sake of argument, let's say that he did levitate here."
"There'll be prints at his starting point," Mace said.
Dyne scanned the sub-basement, pursed his lips, and blew out his breath. "We're going to need a lot more probe droids."
"How many more?" Mace said.
"A lot."
"How long to bring them here and search this entire level?"
"With all this machinery, the skydock access tunnels, the waste and supply turbolifts… I couldn't begin to guess. What's more, we're going to need additional security clearance to search the tunnels."
"You'll have whatever clearance you need," Mace promised, before he glanced around. "You'll have to run imaging scans of the partitions and the exterior walls."
"That could require several weeks," Dyne said cautiously.
"Then the sooner we begin, the better."
Dyne took a comlink from his belt and was about to activate it when the floor began to tremble.
"A quake?" Mace asked Ahsoka.
She shook her head. "I'm not sure-"
A second jolt shook the sub-basement, strong enough to dust the team with loose ferrocrete from the high ceiling.
"Feels like something rammed the building," Dyne said.
It wouldn't be the first time an intoxicated or exhausted driver had veered from one of the free-travel skylanes and plowed into the side of a building, Mace told himself. And yet-
The next shudder was accompanied by the distant sound of a powerful explosion. Lights in the sub-basement faded momentarily, then returned to full illumination, sending the custodial and maintenance droids into frantic activity.
Also at a far remove, klaxons and sirens blared.
"My comlink isn't working," Dyne said, jabbing at the device's frequency search control with his forefinger.
"We're tiers below midlevel," Ahsoka said.
Dyne shook his head. "That shouldn't matter. Not in here."
Stretching out with the Force, Mace sensed danger, frenzy, pain, and death. "Where's the nearest exit?"
Dyne pointed to his left. "The tunnel to the east sky-dock."
Mace's thoughts swirled. He turned to Valiant. "Commander, I will need half your squad." He turned to Ahsoka. "Ahsoka, you and the rest of the team will assist Captain Dyne with the search. Keep me informed of your progress."
Ahsoka nodded in affirmation. "Yes, Master."
"What about me, sir?"
Mace looked at TC-16, then at Dyne. "The droid stays with you."
Flanked by commandos, Mace Windu raced off. The tunnel to the east skydock shook as they hurried through mixed-species crowds of frightened pedestrians heading toward and away from 500 Republica. Ahead of them loomed a square of dim sunlight, almost aquatic in quality, typical of the lower reaches of Coruscant's urban canyons.
On the huge quadraneular skydock. humans, hu-manoids, and aliens were crouched behind parked limos, taxis, and private yachts, or hurrying for the entrance to the upper-level mag-lev platform. Shouts and screams punctuated he drone of overhead traffic. Panic gripped the free-travel skylanes. Taxis and transports were swerving in all directions, careening into one another and the sides of buildings, making desperate rooftop and plaza landings.
Higher, a plunging vehicle-a boxy cargo ship, engulfed in flames-came streaking through a horizontal autonavigation lane, surrendering some of its velocity to a violent collision with a public transport pod before continuing its fiery plunge toward the bottom of the canyon.
Mace tracked the ill-fated ship for a moment, then tilted his head back and put the edge of his hand to his brow. Distant buildings shimmered, as if miraged by heat.
The district's defensive shield had been raised!
Higher still, something was wrong with the flickering sky. Light flared behind stratified clouds, and thunder of a kind reverberated from the summits of the taller buildings. Far to the south, Coruscant's pale blue mantle was hashed into triangles and slivers by white contrails.
Shaak Ti appeared in a shortwave communication with Mace via hologram from one of the Commando's wrist-units. She had been monitoring the surface and keeping the industrial district secure. In her oblate pools of white skin, her eyes were wide when she looked at Mace.
"An attack," she said in stunned disbelief.
Comlink already in hand, Mace activated the Jedi Temple frequency and held the device to his ear.
"Nothing but noise."
"The deflector shield," Shaak Ti said.
She craned her neck, striped montrals and head-tail quivering. "Or could they be jamming transmissions?"
Mace's nostrils flared. "Crowd control!" he told the commandos. To Shaak Ti's hologram, he said: "Find Palpatine. See to it he's conveyed to safety. I'll send backup."
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