32 BBY
Seated at the desk in her bedroom, Tan'ya watched the news on her compad with some interest. Events were unfolding almost an entire Galaxy away that had some bearing on her homeworld of Serenno.
At this moment in time, the Trade Federation was attempting to annex the beautiful, forested world of Naboo; first with a naval blockade and now with an army marching through the streets of its capital.
If the Galactic New Network was to be believed, an uprising had occurred. Currently the Queen and her palace militia were holding Nute Gunray, the Viceroy of the Trade Federation, hostage, and had forced him to sign a treaty promising to leave Naboo right away. There had been a diversionary fighter attack from their local patrol force, and even the indigenous Gungan tribes had coordinated with her forces to do battle with the occupying droid army… with predictable results. A small squadron of fighters without the ability to refuel and rearm was no match for a fleet of carrier ships, and that was to say nothing of the Gungans who didn't even fight with blasters, the poor fools.
It was an awful plan, and Tan'ya was surprised to see even one part of it be successful with the Viceroy taken as a hostage. Unfortunately for the Queen, the Nemoidian was a depreciating asset. An unpopular, compromise leader chosen enthusiastically by the Board of Directors, Nute Gunray seemed to have failed his way upwards to the top of the Trade Federation. With a blaster pointed at his face, he had immediately caved to Queen Amidala's intimidation and signed whatever she demanded of him. The only problem was she couldn't exactly let him go while she was surrounded by a vast army of droids. The moment Nute left, there was nothing to stop him from tearing up their deal, turning around and taking her hostage instead.
This stalemate had been ongoing for almost forty eight hours now, with the Trade Federation forces gathering around the palace, ready to storm in at any moment. The news cast had a projection of the three dimensional structure of Theed Palace with an army of tiny, ant-like droids forming in imposing, if impractical ranks on all sides, backed up by tanks and squadrons of circling vulture droids.
Tan'ya suspected that from a negotiation standpoint, the Trade Federation still felt they held an incredibly strong hand. Nute Gunray was expendable, and any promises he made were under duress. Right now the Federation's board of directors were in an emergency meeting, and it would probably be hard to convince them that their huge investments in Naboo were worth abandoning for the sake of one easily replaced incompetent.
The Trade Federation was bold and hubristic indeed if it thought it could snatch such a valuable gem from the Republic. With its wealthy, majority human population, Naboo was one of the Galaxy's largest suppliers of plasma fuel for ships and speeders. Especially when compared to Serenno, Naboo was not a mere backwater supplier of raw materials for luxury goods, but a major source of a valuable and much needed fuel for the entire Republic. To compare the two planet's to nations back on Earth, Serenno was like Rwanda, resource rich and slowly recovering from devastating internal conflict, while Naboo was akin to Saudi Arabia, supplying oil to the US and firmly under its protection.
Tan'ya was certain at this very moment there were Jedi on their way to Naboo to shake some sense into the Trade Federation. If the scalpel failed, the Republic would soon reach for the hammer. No doubt it wouldn't be long until Naboo was free from Trade Federation, unless they could parlay some kind of arrangement with the Senate behind closed doors, which seemed unlikely now that the Senator of Naboo had been elected as Supreme Chancellor. Whatever gamble the Trade Federation had thought to make seemed to have failed.
Well, good for Naboo, but bad for Serenno. Tan'ya suspected that if Serenno was annexed by the Trade Federation, there wouldn't be nearly as much of a fuss. Odo Atz, the corporation that Serenno exported all its lumber to, was already part of the Trade Federation. Serenno didn't even have direct representation in the Senate; being part of the D'Astan Sector, the senator from Axxila voted on the sector's behalf.
Ever since her first days learning to read in this Galaxy, Tan'ya had been concerned about the Trade Federation and its relationship with her new homeworld.
Originally, the Trade Federation was just a private security firm with the goal of securing trade routes for its clients from the pirates and raiders of the Outer Rim. Eventually, the TF secured the vast and lucrative contract to maintain order in the Corporate Sector, which had been established as a tax haven by the Republic for the sake of developing the Outer Rim as a whole. Over time they became the de facto government of the region as they managed defense and mediated internal disputes, and even received official recognition in the Galactic Senate as representatives of the sector.
Historically, in this life and her previous ones, corporations did not make for very good governments. Even in the best run corporation, a certain amount of inefficiency born from complacency and arrogance crept into the ranks of any monopoly overtime, and a megacorporation that ran a world essentially gave itself control over everything. The Trade Federation had monopolistic power over the entire Corporate Sector, and had begun to spread its reach across more and more of the Outer Rim.
At the moment, Serenno was only a client of the Federation, where Naboo had been a debtor. Still, the fact that the Federation was willing to forcefully invade and occupy a Mid Rim world didn't bode well for an Outer Rim backwater. Well, that was being a bit harsh. Serenno was positioned directly over the Perlemian Trade Run, and quite resource rich with a large population in its own right. All it really needed was better economic management, and Tan'ya was sure they could be a flourishing power of the Outer Rim in time.
The problem with that was the Rim's other power, the Hutts. Tan'ya vaguely recalled reading somewhere in her previous lives that a feudal society bore a striking resemblance to an organized crime syndicate. The Hutts simply didn't bother with the distinction.
In ancient history around the origins of the Republic, the Hutts were a fierce, long lived warrior race that used their powerful bulk, shrewd intellect, and utter ruthlessness to conquer and subdue countless other species across a good chunk of the Outer Rim. Though the empire they formed eventually broke up into countless smaller kingdoms, the approximate borders of Hutt Space hadn't changed for almost twenty five thousand years. Though they did a lot less fighting themselves these days, the Hutt upper class continued in the questionable traditions of their ancestors, using mercenaries and pirates to claw tribute from the poorly defended worlds of the remote Outer Rim.
Essentially, a world like Serenno either paid the Trade Federations security fees, or it gave tribute to the Hutts. Between the two powers, the entire Outer Rim was trapped in a vice. Some of the wealthier worlds like Raxus were able to maintain their own security forces, but even they were feeling the squeeze. The constant threat and pressure of the Hutts was gradually pushing the Tion cluster into the waiting arms of the Trade Federation.
Tan'ya's eyebrows furrowed at that. Actually, that was strange, wasn't it? The Hutts were famously cunning diplomats, well known for their shrewd political acumen. If they were competing with the Trade Federation for control of the Outer Rim, wouldn't the optimal move be to reduce pressure on the Tion Cluster?
The Hutts were incredibly long lived, and so generally felt no desire to risk their necks in open war. They would typically acquire new worlds and clients by raiding their shipping lanes with untraceable mercenaries, and flooding their markets with spices. They would throw their credits around on the world's stock markets, trying to engineer a crash over time, along with other similarly underhanded tactics until their demands were met.
Reading about the situation with Raxus on the holonet, Tan'ya was genuinely surprised to see Hutt warlords gloating, gloating, about the wealth they would claim on that world, while using only a small portion of their usual repertoire of economic warfare tactics. Even with this, the public of Raxus was outraged, pressuring their politicians to do something, anything! They cried, 'Why not just cut a deal with the Trade Federation already and put an end to this madness?'
Then Tan'ya noticed another oddity. Many of the pages she was reading shared the same talking points, despite none of them being associated with the Trade Federation. Every article that she found on the subject contained basically the same arguments, just framed from different sides of the issue.
'Raxus should just face reality, and rent a reasonable fleet from the Federation.'
'The patriotic thing for Raxus to do was invest heavily in defense with Federation ships.'
'Federation ships were more ethical than ones built and crewed locally, because they would only send droids and professional officers who knew the risks to their deaths in battle.'
It took pages of searching, before Tan'ya finally found a single article encouraging Raxus to construct and manage its own defenses, and that was because another author referenced it derisively, and included a link to its page. When Tan'ya tried searching for the article herself, all that came up were criticisms of the article until she got to the third or fourth page.
Feeling curious, she searched for news on her own homeworld, and found almost nothing. A few articles here and there mentioned the world's slow economic recovery, despite its natural resources, but really that was it. There were more than a few locally published outlets that made it to the main page, though.
Still curious, and feeling like she might be pulling at the thread of something larger, Tan'ya tried researching other worlds that sat at the crossroads between Hutta and the Trade Federation, starting with Felucia. It was almost the same story as with Raxus, many articles coming to the same conclusion from different angles. Trying to find an alternate view that offered a different solution took almost half an hour of scrolling through articles.
Tan'ya checked in on a few more Outer Rim worlds that were considered disputed territory, and found basically the same story. She even found a few articles about the rise of piracy in Mandalorian space, extremely critical of the Duchess. It appeared that whatever force was at work coordinating the narrative against independent powers of the Outer Rim, was just starting to spin into action against Mandalore.
The thought gave her pause.
Without even really having to convince herself, Tan'ya already knew that there was an invisible hand guiding the actions of the Republic's news outlets, the Trade Federation and even the disparate feuding Hutt Cartels.
"Being X." She growled his name like a curse.
It was only a matter of time until he united the Galaxy in a spiteful crusade against her, she knew. That was what he had done to Germania, just because he couldn't take even a hint of criticism. He promised she wouldn't be reincarnated again, and now he had proven himself a liar.
With her brows furrowed in concentration, she opened up a new document on her compad and started documenting the connections she found.
Behind her, the holoprojector showed the lights shutting down on Theed Palace as the Trade Federation cut the power to the upper levels. Absent-mindedly, she turned down the volume on the Siege of Theed, focussing on the task at hand.
Even in the height of Serenno's hot and soggy summer season, Dooku could almost feel the exhaustion beginning to melt away as he stepped off his light cruiser. With the sounds of chirping insects filling the air and bird song whistling through the garden, the sight of his wife coming to greet him brought a smile to his lips. She wasn't alone, either. Accompanying her, just old enough to begin crawling by himself, was Dooku's youngest child, Ideon.
As Dooku came closer, Ideon held his arms out to his father, demanding attention, and was rewarded by being taken out of his mother's arms. Dooku leaned forward to give his wife a soft kiss, before holding his son up in the air as the boy wriggled in delight, smiling with just a few bottom teeth.
"He seems to be in a good mood."
"Right now he is." Athemeene replied, and wagged her finger at the boy with exaggeration. "You should have seen the tantrum he threw at dinner though. He still doesn't like anything but milk, yet."
Dinner? Dooku glanced behind himself to see the sun only just starting to touch the distant horizon of treetops, and realized just how late it was. Ventress stepped out of the ship behind him, her travel bag slung over one shoulder. She seemed happy to be back as well.
"Good afternoon, My Lady." She greeted Athemeene with a friendly, informal bow that was barely a tilt of the head.
"Did you enjoy your trip?" Athemeene asked her.
"It was interesting, though we weren't there for fun." Asajj replied, hesitating slightly before asking her Master, "Is it alright if I just head straight to bed? Anything you want me to handle first?"
Dooku considered for a moment, before shaking his head. "Go."
Asajj smiled, before turning away and heading for her room inside.
Athemeene watched her walk away, before turning to her husband again. "How about you? Enjoyed your trip?"
"Nothing but work." Dooku answered her, pulling his son a little closer so that he could rest Ideon on his hip. "But potentially productive."
Dooku had traveled to Mon Calamari to follow up on some of the fallout from Sifo's unexpected death. He hadn't wanted to go in person, but constant connection issues with holocalls and inability to really get anything done without actually being there had forced his hand. In the end, he wasn't sure if he was any closer to convincing Councilor Ackbar to sign on with the New Temple, but just the fact they were willing to take an unscheduled meeting was a good sign by itself. Dooku had at least persuaded the Calamari to send a representative to inspect the New Temple for themselves.
Often diplomacy was about putting out feelers, rather than direct persuasion. Giving people a chance to sound a situation out for themselves could be more productive, when too much nagging came across as desperate. The last thing Dooku would want to do was make the Mon Calamari believe he needed them to join, because then they might start demanding special privileges, like knights that he couldn't spare for a world that wasn't even a member.
Everyone wanted Jedi Knights, and he just didn't have the numbers. Dooku needed more knights, and padawans, but especially he needed masters. The first class of younglings were still five years from becoming padawans, and the New Temple's only senior padawan was Ventress, who Dooku wasn't willing to promote just yet. The girl was talented and dedicated, she was getting closer to her Knighthood, but Dooku was still reluctant to graduate her.
Ventress would be his fourth Padawan, and Dooku would not cast her into the Galaxy when he thought her ill prepared. What happened to Komari had been… unfortunate. Dooku did not wish that for Asajj.
The two of them walked inside together, Dooku relaxing until he noticed the look his wife was giving him. She had something to say, so he turned to face her fully, still holding Ideon.
"When is Tan'ya going to resume her lessons?"
Dooku paused at that. "As soon as I can find her a Master I trust."
The look on Athemeene's face made it clear she didn't accept that answer. "It's already been a month since Sifo's funeral. If the New Temple doesn't have enough Masters as it is, where are you going to find one that you specifically trust with Tan'ya?"
Dooku fought back a grimace at that. It wasn't that he thought that Masters from the Grand Temple wouldn't be unwilling or unable to teach Tan'ya, just that he didn't trust any of them not to influence her poorly. Of his two surviving former Padawans, Qui-Gon was already training young Kenobi, and Rael Averross was not really on speaking terms with Dooku.
"I was speaking to Ky," Athemeene said, and Dooku just knew she'd been preparing for this moment. "He says that the Younglings in the class at the New Temple are doing really well."
Put her in with the other students? Dooku instinctively disliked the idea. Tan'ya was special, and far too advanced in her learning to fit in. Putting her in with them would make Tan'ya the target of resentment, and slow her growth. He would know. As a youngling, Dooku went through the exact same thing.
Seeing the look on his face, Athemeene held up a hand to forestall his objections. "At the New Temple, there's a Green Jedi, from Corellia, I think? Apparently he was willing to put together an advanced course for another Youngling? Ky told me he already had one student who was advancing too fast for the rest of the class, so it might be good for Tan'ya to be placed with someone who's more of a peer?"
A Green Jedi? Dooku hadn't had too many dealings with them, but they weren't on good terms with the Grand Temple, not that it really mattered to him what those fools thought.
"I will… interview this Green Jedi. And I'll try to talk to Rael. If Rael isn't willing, and if the Corellian is up to the task, then that may be what we have to do."
Even if he didn't like the Green Jedi, Dooku might not have much of a choice.
The New Temple needed more Masters very badly, it was a wonder that Narec was able to sleep at all. Thinking about the man made Dooku feel slightly guilty, because he still hadn't had the chance to help him tutor his lightsaber skills to the level of a Master.
"I think you should talk to Tan'ya?" Athemeene pressed further. "She doesn't listen to me the way she listens to you, and she's been spending all her time alone in her room since the funeral."
If she liked to spend her time alone, why was that a problem? Dooku had been similar at her age. Well, he supposed he was always good friends with Sifo.
Thinking about that made him grimace. "I'll speak with her." He murmured.
Tan'ya had been close with Sifo as well, but now he was gone, thanks to Sidious.
Dooku frowned, and briefly touched the Dark Side of the force. The call was gone, the Whisper drawing him to Coruscant. Either Sidious had moved on to other things, or he would find another way to contact Dooku. Thinking about it made him… if not worried then maybe concerned.
Dooku doubted a Sith would take to being ignored very well.
There had been a small thought that was bothering Dooku for a while now, one that wouldn't quite go away. Sidious had felt that Sifo threatened his plans, and removed him. When Sidious discovered the prophecy about Tan'ya, wouldn't he eliminate her as well? The prophecy didn't specify Tan'ya, any of Dooku's children could be the one mentioned. A Sith wouldn't hesitate to remove any threat, or even a source of potential threats.
In his mind, Dooku pictured Senator Palpatine visiting Serenno Palace, and his stomach turned. Just the idea of Athemeene, or any of his children being in the same room as him made him feel… furious.
Did Dooku really need Palpatine? It was a dangerous thought, but one worth exploration. The Clone Army was already in production, and with Sifo gone the only contact the Kaminoans had with the Jedi was through him. It would be very easy for Dooku to simply inform them that the Clones were for the New Temple, not for Coruscant Jedi. In the end, they were running a business, and they would serve whoever paid them. Right now that was Dooku, even if he was getting the funds from somewhere else.
Realistically, Dooku's plans were going well without much need of or help from Sidious anyway. Why go through all the trouble of creating an illegal clone army to pacify the Outer Rim, when Dooku was managing it fine without their help?
He glanced down at his baby, Ideon, who smiled up at his father and reached up to grip the bottom of Dooku's beard with a happy gurgle.
Why work with the Sith at all, especially when the risks were so high?
After putting Ideon down for his afternoon nap, Dooku turned and headed up the stairs to Tan'ya's room. He paused, knocking on the door and receiving no answer. When he stepped through inside, he found her room empty, but the Galactic Newsfeed playing over the stationary Holocom in the background and the compad Tan'ya had left open on her desk. From where he was standing in the doorway, Dooku could see a text file open on the screen.
Seeing that she wasn't around, Dooku felt curious about what his daughter was working on. It wasn't like the girl had a teacher at the moment, so any work she was doing was for her own benefit. He stepped into the room, and picked up the pad, finding what looked to be a large report Tan'ya was working on. She was still concerned about the Trade Federation by the looks of things.
Just then he heard the sound of a toilet flushing. A few moments later his daughter stepped out of her own suite bathroom, and froze at the sight of her father. She looked between him and the compad, before suddenly she lost her mental shield and her feelings shone through the force as embarrassed.
"It's not finished yet." She insisted.
"I see that." He replied, putting it back down.
His daughter gazed at him, self conscious. "I'm sure it must seem strange."
Internally, he was amused at that, but kept it off his face. A child giving herself homework definitely was strange, but not something she would be in trouble for.
She stilled herself after a moment, before realizing her mental walls were down and roughly jerking them back into place. Dooku watched as his daughter's posture straightened, and she stood with her back upright, and her hands behind her back like a soldier at ease.
It was amusing, but also odd. Who taught her to stand like that? "Is this all you've been doing to keep yourself busy?" Dooku asked.
"No, Father." She answered. "I've continued to train every morning, with Asajj when she's available, I've been working on researching and writing up that report to present to you, and I've continued to manage the recruitment and training of the Royal Guard."
The Royal Guard? Now that he thought about it, as Sifo's de facto padawan, she would have assumed command of them until another was found. Dooku had been so busy with his work he'd completely forgotten about finding someone else to replace Sifo's work on Serenno's defenses.
"How have you been managing the Royal Guard?" Dooku asked after a long pause.
"I will arrange an inspection right away."
Curious, but also aware that he was going off topic from his original purpose, Dooku held up a hand to forestall her. "We'll do it later. I came to speak with you about your continued instruction as a Jedi."
Tan'ya's mental shield stayed firm, but Dooku thought he saw a hint of disappointment in her features. "Who will be my new teacher?"
"I haven't decided yet, but you will return to the New Temple soon."
She nodded her head in acceptance, but Dooku could see that she wasn't happy with the idea.
"Will that be a problem?" Dooku asked her.
Tan'ya hesitated for just a moment, before answering. "I'm accomplishing a lot here. Spending so much time at the New Temple will make it harder for me to train the Royal Guard, and manage Serenno's Defense Force."
Those shouldn't be the duty of a seven year old child anyway, though Dooku knew his daughter was exceptional. Besides, she seemed to know what she was doing thanks to the Force guiding her and Sifo's tutelage. "You may have to appoint a subordinate to oversee things in your absence. Your Auntie Jenza is my regent here on Serenno, and your Mother oversees the Palace in my absence."
His daughter nodded at that. "Yes, Father." Her tone of voice made it clear she was reluctant to put away her toys.
She was being obedient, but Dooku remembered the advice he received from Narec back when he first met Tan'ya, about being a better father. After a moment, Dooku somewhat awkwardly sat down on the end of Tan'ya's bed, and gestured for her to sit in her chair.
"Tan'ya, you must complete your Jedi training, before anything else. It's more important to me that you have mastered the Force and can protect yourself, than that you've begun to dabble in Serenno's governance." He frowned slightly. "There are… extremely dangerous beings in this Galaxy, who would desire to use you. I won't always be here to protect you. Until you master the Force, and master yourself, you will always be vulnerable."
"Yes, Father."
Despite her audible agreement, Dooku still got the impression she didn't quite agree or understand. He wasn't sure how he could change her mind. At the very least, she would know why he did as he did one day.
That thought took him by surprise, but then he supposed it was true. One day Tan'ya was going to have to know about the Clone Army, and Sidious. She would learn that it was her Father who arranged for the death of her close mentor.
Somehow he was worried just thinking about it. Not even Athemeene knew the depths of his entanglement. And there was no way Palpatine could let Tan'ya live, not without using her.
If Dooku didn't destroy Sidious, one day Tan'ya would have to.
Dooku blinked, shocked by the certainty of that realization. He considered it for a few moments, before giving in to it. There was no way around that fact that serving Sidious would mean destroying his family. They would either serve him or be killed.
Sidious wasn't his friend. Or even an ally.
Even disregarding the fact that Dooku was a Jedi, or that he wasn't so sure anymore that Sidious also dreamed of a Galaxy at peace, or even that the man was a monster, the Sith was Dooku's enemy.
A nervous pit opened in his stomach as he realized the enormity of what he was facing.
"Father, what did you think?"
Dooku stopped, looking up at his daughter. "Think?"
"Of the report I was working on." She hesitated. "It didn't seem too… paranoid to you, did it?"
"I didn't get the chance to read it, daughter." He smiled at her softly. "You may be able to read several thousand words in the time it takes you to use the private, but your father is slower than that."
She stared at him for a moment, like she didn't understand he was making a small jest.
"I'm sure the report will be fine." He assured her. "What's it about?"
Tan'ya looked like she wasn't prepared for his genuine interest. "It's nothing."
Nothing, and yet she'd written dozens of pages about it. "Tan'ya, tell me." He said, more firmly.
She looked at him for a long moment, before finally admitting, almost as if she was ashamed, "The Trade Federation and the Hutts aren't competing with each other. In fact, I think they're working together, along with a powerful faction within the senate."
"...Go on."
"Imagine a being that's able to reach across vast distances without being traced, and coordinate events between sentients and organizations that would otherwise be incentivised against working together." Tan'ya hesitated, glancing at Dooku's face before continuing. "The Trade Federation is behaving… incredibly strangely, and to a lesser degree, so are the Hutts. The two of them are carving apart the Outer Rim, while never stepping on each other's toes, and the Senate, acting in the name of fighting them, only ever seems to be helping them. To explain their behavior, I've supposed the existence of a sentience that I call Being X. Once I did that, all kinds of things began to fit together."
"...Like what?"
"Like the Trade Federation's invasion of Naboo." Tan'ya reached over and picked up her remote. With it she turned up the volume on her Holocom, displaying footage of a droid army surrounding an unfamiliar Palace. "The Republic doesn't currently have a standing fleet, but they're fully capable of requisitioning the Defense fleet's ships from Kuati or Corellia. Yet for some reason they've done nothing, and the Trade Federation was stupid enough to try this, like they knew the Republic would do nothing. At the same time the Federation's Viceroy is being held hostage, and their Board of Directors has been in an emergency meeting as they struggle to agree on an interim leader, the Hutts have done absolutely nothing to capitalize on the chaos. It's like there's a larger force behind the Republic, and the Federation that they're even more afraid of."
"How long has this been happening?"
"This is the fifteenth day of the Siege."
"No, how long do you think these groups have been coordinating together?"
Tan'ya turned back towards him, looking surprised. "You believe me? About Being X?"
One name was as fine as any other for a creature of the shadows like Palpatine. "I do."
A brilliant smile split Tan'ya's face, and waves of relief rolled off her in the force as her mental control failed. For a moment, Dooku thought he saw tears of happiness in the corner of her eyes. "I'm sorry, Father." She blinked a few times, before reasserting control of herself and the mental shields came back up. "I never thought anyone would believe me about Being X."
Guided by his own instincts, Dooku reached out and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. She stiffened at the contact until he let go, looking up at him with shocked, round eyes. "I believe you, Tan'ya. But you must not tell anyone else."
"Yes, Father."
"In fact, you must not keep a record of this that can be accessed through the Holonet. Take your holopad and destroy it, burn the pieces in a furnace so no data can be recovered. Continue your research, but it must be kept on flimsi, which I will store in my vault. We'll get an old typing printer in the city for you to continue your work."
Tan'ya grinned eagerly. "Yes, Father. Absolute secrecy."
"No one can know about this. Not your Mother, not your brothers." Dooku thought for a moment. "You'll have to keep attending the academy at the New Temple, pretend nothing is wrong, but use the holocoms there for your research, and then write up your reports here." Another idea hit Dooku. "If any of the other Jedi ask about your research, we can say you're writing the next volume in Sifo's history series.
"Yes!" An excited gleam was in her eyes.
Tear the Veil, indeed, Dooku thought staring down at his child. Equal parts pride and fear warred within him. Incredible, the brilliant mind his daughter had and the gifts the force had given her, to already have determined Sidious existence even if she hadn't identified who he was yet. It was also dangerous, incredibly dangerous. If Dooku hadn't glanced at her report by coincidence… If she'd completed it, then shown it to someone other than him? The results could have been too terrible to consider.
A cold shiver ran down Dooku's spine as he considered those sick, yellow eyes gleaming at him. That they would ever be directed at his daughter, at his children, made his stomach turn with worry.
What had he been thinking, allying with that creature? Sidious was not, and had never been his friend. The moment Sifo made his prophecy about Tan'ya, Dooku had become destined to be the Sith's enemy.
Now the only question was whether Dooku should aim to kill the Sith right away, or play along with him for a time and wait for a better opportunity?
"Oh, look at that." Tan'ya said, watching the holoterminal. "The siege is breaking."
Dooku glanced over to see the droid army begin to advance on the Palace. Large hover tanks opened fire with massive blasters, sending pieces of stone and dust scattering in all directions, as gaping holes were blown in the Palace walls. It seemed whoever was commanding that army couldn't care less if the Viceroy survived or not.
"I guess the scalpel has failed." Tan'ya murmured.