Invader Syndrome Ch. 55 (Star Wars)

(Every character depicted in the story below is a consenting legal adult over the age of 18)

A/N: Dooku gets trapped.

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Sev’rance Tann has never been more grateful for the teachings of Lord Vader’s holocron… or Asajj’s willingness to share them with her. While she likes to think she has excellent self-control, it’s only through the lessons provided by that holocron that she believes she manages to completely and utterly blind Count Dooku to the truth.

The Sith Lord and leader of the Confederacy might have seen right through her otherwise… but instead, Sev’rance has turned her meager Force Potential entirely towards the act of subterfuge and deception. Turning her own small amount of power inward, she’s focused it completely on making sure the Count sees exactly what he wants to see.

“We have arrived, Count Dooku.”

The same cannot be said for General Grievous, however. Knowing that he’s on their side, knowing that this is all a trap for the Count, Sev’rance can’t help but be a little nervous. If Dooku turns his attention on the cyborg General, if he tries to plumb the depths of Grievous’ mind to ascertain where his true loyalties lie… then the game will be up, just like that.

Although, by this point it’s a bit too late. They’re already here after all… and Dooku has no idea he’s surrounded by enemies even now. Still, even if he would almost certainly die here on the bridge of Grievous’ flagship if he were to discover the truth… she and Grievous would also die in the process, Sev’rance imagines. So… they aren’t out of the woods yet.

Fortunately, the Banite Sith only has eyes for the planet they’ve just arrived at. Dathomir. It’s visible through the bridge’s viewport, sitting there seemingly innocuously as the Separatist Fleet that Dooku ordered brought along hovers over the world.

There is a concern that Dooku might order them to perform an orbital bombardment first, to ‘soften’ up their targets. Sev’rance has been trying to think up ways to convince him otherwise throughout the journey here. But in the end, she’s not sure what to do about that. They could… simply bombard uninhabited parts of the planet and then lie to Dooku about it, perhaps?

“Ready your forces for battle, General. Let us prepare to descend to the planet’s surface below. Commander Tann, with me.”

Sev’rance blinks as the Count neatly sidesteps that issue for her, not even bringing up the mention of orbital bombardment. She can’t help but be surprised… and that surprise costs her, because she stands frozen just long enough to draw Dooku’s attention. Thinking fast, Sev’rance says the exact opposite of what she wants.

“Sir… are we not going to soften them up from orbit first before going down? And… you want me on the planet’s surface instead of up here, watching over the fleet? I’m not much of a fighter.”

Dooku stares at her for a long second before shaking his head.

“No. While your suggestions are tactically sound, some things must be dealt with face to face. And Ventress has already faked her death once… I will not give her leave to do so again. Now come, there is a traitor who must be extinguished.”

Sev’rance resists the urge to shudder, merely inclining her head wordlessly and following Dooku to his private shuttle while Grievous goes to prepare his troops. Even knowing the trap, even knowing that they’re pulling the net tight around Dooku with every passing moment… it’s understandably nerve-wracking to be flying down to the surface of Dathomir with just the Count and his droid pilot.

Luckily he doesn’t spare her much mind. Instead, he spends the time meditating, gathering the Dark to himself, building up his power. It sends an involuntary shiver down Sev’rance’s spine, the sheer strength he exudes. If Asajj was to be believed, Vader was much, much more powerful than Dooku, but Sev’rance had obviously never stood in the other Sith Lord’s presence so she couldn’t say for sure. Either way, she knew Dooku was more powerful than her by several magnitudes.

“Do not worry, Commander Tann. Once we have taken care of my treacherous apprentice and the primitive inhabitants of this world, I will take some time out of my schedule to offer you some personal training. You will have earned that much.”

Sev’rance straightens up as Dooku speaks without looking her way. Hesitation will get her killed, so she simply inclines her head again.

“Thank you, milord.”

When they finally land, Dooku’s eyes snap open… and blaze Sith Yellow. The human nobleman rises to his feet with a crisp snap of his boots against the durasteel grating beneath them and begins walking towards the ramp as it starts to descend. Sev’rance follows him and a moment later they step foot onto the surface of Dathomir, even as dozens of droid carriers landed nearby are already offloading hundreds of battle droids.

… They’re lucky that Grievous is on their side, Sev’rance can’t help but think. This trap wouldn’t be nearly as much of a sure thing without him. Of course, from what she’d been told, even Grievous would not have been as much of a boon without Lord Vader’s help.

Regardless, if Dooku senses anything in the air related to his impending demise, he doesn’t show it. His eyes sweep across their surroundings assessingly, narrowed in thought as he considers the environment. Finally though, they settle on a mountain fortress barely half a mile away.

“It will be interesting to see how the Nightsisters respond to our arrival. Will they face us or will they cower and hide in their mountain? Hm… let’s find out.”

Sev’rance holds her tongue as she follows Dooku over to General Grievous. After a few more minutes, the legions of droids they’ve brought with them are ready to march and together, the three of them lead the way, with Dooku’s hand on the hilt of his saber at his waist as they move.

Halfway through their approach, the large stone doors of the mountain fortress are pushed open… and the inhabitants come pouring out. Sev’rance’s mouth goes dry at the hundreds of women who array themselves before them, Nightsisters one and all.

So many Force Users… no, more than the Force, apparently the Nightsisters practiced outright magical spells. It still sounded insane to Sev’rance, but… well, they would see what happened.

In the front of this great congregation… is Asajj. Asajj and a woman who can only be the leader of the Nightsisters, Mother Talzin. Indeed, as they get within less than a hundred feet of each other, Dooku stops and the droids halt and he addresses the woman by name.

“Mother Talzin. Quite the impressive display.”

The Nightsister Matriarch narrows her eyes, sweeping them across the assembled droid army.

“You bring an army to my doorstep, Darth Tyrannus. Anything less than this display would only invite further harassment. We are not weak, no matter what your master would have you believe. Consider carefully what you do next.”

She was really hamming it up, wasn’t she? Sev’rance had to assume so anyways, because the idea that this wasn’t a performance and Asajj hadn’t told Talzin all about the plan was… well, ridiculous to even consider.

Dooku just smiles thinly, his yellow eyes sliding over to Asajj.

“What I do next will depend entirely on you, Mother Talzin. As we both know, you have something that belongs to me. A traitor who tried to slip her leash and run and hide.”

Asajj stands tall and proud, not buckling for even a moment under Dooku’s intense gaze. She stares right back at him unflinching, her own hands resting at her sides but her fingers twitching, making it obvious she’s ready to summon her twin sabers to her palms at a moment’s notice.

Mother Talzin, meanwhile, just scoffs.

“She belonged to me long before she belonged to you, Tyrannus. She is a daughter of Dathomir and while I might have… leased her out for a time, her place was always here, among her people. You hold no claim to her.”

They were really dragging this out, weren’t they? Sev’rance meets Asajj’s eyes for just a moment and Asajj flicks her gaze to the side, signaling that she wants Sev’rance to move away from Dooku. Only, everything is so tense, everyone is so on edge… she’s not sure she can do so without being noticed. And being noticed at this juncture was not a good idea.

“Well then. It would seem we are at an impasse. If you insist on harboring a traitor… then you make yourselves enemies of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.”

He speaks as if he’s discussing the weather. Cordially and with poise. Not as though he’s all but sentencing an entire people to death. Mother Talzin’s eyes narrow… before she finally lets her lips split into a wide grin.

“I find myself amused. I had wondered if you would be able to tell. If you would somehow know. And yet… no. You are completely blinded by your own sense of superiority, aren’t you?”

Dooku’s lips dip into a frown at that, while Asajj gets a tad more restless. Sev’rance can feel the tension in the air ratcheting upwards another notch.

“And what… is that supposed to mean?”

The Banite Sith’s tone is as chilling as it is frightening, his words spoken icily as he stares at Mother Talzin. But he’s looking in the wrong direction.

“It means, Count Dooku… that treachery is the way of the Sith.”

Four lightsabers snap to life behind him and attempt to bisect Dooku right then and there. Only the aged Sith Lord’s utterly inhuman reflexes save him, the Dark Side singing within him as he rolls forward, dodging Grievous’ blades by the skin of his teeth while dirtying his cloak in the process.

As he comes up on his feet, saber lit and in hand and cloak discarded, Dooku stares with blazing yellow eyes at Grievous… and at Tann, who stands apart but whose inaction is probably telling at this point. He looks between the two armies he now finds himself surrounded by.

“This…”

General Grievous lets out a warbling, robotic chuckle that cuts the Count off.

“This is a trap, yes. For you. This is where you die, Count Dooku. This is where you perish.”

Rage flickers across Dooku’s face for a moment before he regains himself. Straightening up, he scowls at Grievous.

“After everything we’ve done for you, you choose betrayal. How utterly foolish.”

Grievous’ eyes narrow, his sabers beginning to whirl.

“After everything you’ve done to me, you mean. Did you think I would not find out? No… you thought I would never learn the truth. That everything done to me was arranged by you and your Master. You ensured I would become this… and in doing so, you made the architect of your own demise!”

The cyborg General doesn’t bother waiting for anyone else… he launches himself forward at that, a whirlwind of death and sabers that has taken down many a Jedi at this point. After all, every single lightsaber Grievous wields comes from a dead Jedi… and he has quite the collection, a whole lot more than just four.

The only problem is, Dooku is the one who trained Grievous in dueling with lightsabers. So even as the General rushes him with everything he has… it’s not nearly enough.

Fortunate then that Asajj is all too ready to jump in as well. Sev’rance’s heart leaps up into her throat as her beloved ignites her own sabers and flings herself into the fray. Dooku is easily defending against Grievous… but he’s clearly not expecting Asajj’s ferocity. More than that, he’s not expecting her skill.

The two of them quickly have Dooku on the backfoot, for as much as he’s a consummate duelist, his one saber is simply not up to the task of fighting off six. Especially not when four have the strength of a cyborg behind them and the other two are wielded by someone trained extensively by Lord Vader.

In the end, the Count is forced to call upon the Force, snarling as he disengage and then throws out his hand.

“ENOUGH!”

Sith Lightning leaps from his fingers, slamming into General Grievous’ body and sending the cyborg flying as electricity flows over his mechanical form and slips under his armored plates, clearly doing considerable damage to his internals.

Rather than take advantage of the opening provided by Dooku’s focus on the General… Asajj interposes herself between them, her sabers raised in a cross-section to block and absorb Dooku’s Sith Lightning as she grits her teeth, baring them in a snarl.

Finally, Dooku abates, his eyes narrowed as he looks to the unmoving droid army at his back.

“What are you waiting for? All of you… attack!”

There’s a pause in which Sev’rance holds her breath. Some of the droids at the head of the army look at one another before looking back to Dooku.

“Roger! Roger!”

And then they raise their blaster rifles and fire on Dooku himself. Honestly, she’s not sure what the man was expecting. Did he really think their lack of action beforehand was just them waiting for him to give them orders? Did he not realize that General Grievous had the droid control codes from Lord Vader that would allow him to override even Dooku’s commands?

… Admittedly, Sev’rance did wonder where Lord Vader had gotten those codes. To be able to supersede the leader of the Confederacy… well, that was about as impressive as everything else the Sith Lord had proven capable of so far.

Regardless, the result is a foregone conclusion. Mother Talzin and the rest of the Nightsisters don’t even have to lift a finger. Dooku’s own army turns on him and the aristocratic Sith is so caught off guard that he’s pinned down without hope of escape in mere moments. Asajj jumps back in too, battering him from the other side until he’s forced to start taking minor injuries just to stay alive. A stray blaster bolt grazing his shoulder here, a lightsaber brushing down his leg there.

Dooku fights like a cornered animal, the veneer of civility, poise, and grace fully stripped from him as the droids try to gun him down on one side and Asajj tries to cut him down from the other.

In the midst of all of this, somehow, Sev’rance and Dooku’s eyes meet. She’s not sure why, but it happens. And Sev’rance… Sev’rance sees realization there. He knows in that moment that she betrayed him too. Obviously she did, otherwise she would already be dead.

Perhaps she should have expected it, but even with Dooku entirely backed into a corner and clearly about to die… she’s not anticipating him being so petty. And frankly, even if she did… she’s not sure there’s anything she could have done to stop him from throwing his lightsaber at her.

The blade buries itself in her gut a moment before Asajj’s own sabers swipe through Dooku’s neck and separate his head from his shoulders. As he dies, his saber cuts off, but Sev’rance is already dropping to the ground, gasping from the gut wound.

“SEV’RANCE! NO!”

With a single leap, Asajj is at her side, hilts back at her waist and hands grabbing her to pull her into her lap.

“No… no, no, no…”

Sev’rance grunts, able to feel that Dooku’s final strike was as precise as almost everything the man had done in life. He’s burned straight through many of her vital organs… and so the rest of her body is already starting to shut down.

“H-heh… s-sorry… Asajj. I… sorry…”

She doesn’t know what else to say. But Asajj just shakes her head.

“No… don’t say sorry. And don’t you dare die on me. I won’t let you die on me.”

Sev’rance gasps as she feels the power of the Dark Side flow through Asajj and into her. Her red eyes widen and she shudders in the other woman’s lap.

“I swear it… I won’t let you die, Sev’rance.”

Even as her vision fades and consciousness flees her… Sev’rance believes her. She believes her with all her heart.

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A/N: Remember to Vote, leave a Like, and let me know what you think!

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Google Doc Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PktjQsSePtT7JhBSfGn475aieGplwxuVQAWet_X3h-Q/edit?tab=t.0