Attack of The Clones (III)

The LAATs cut through the air at a rapid pace. It didn't take long for the news of Count Dooku's imminent escape to reach Lelouch's transport, relayed by the pilot mere moments before. 

Lelouch's mind raced as he calculated the potential outcomes. Dooku's escape would mean the continuation of the war, the deepening of chaos—the very chaos that Lelouch had been counting on to advance his own plans. But the timing had to be perfect as the Republic needed to see the Jedi's failings. He couldn't allow the Jedi to intercept Dooku and potentially end the war prematurely. 

He moved near the pilot before speaking."Contact the field commander," Lelouch ordered, his voice sharp. 

The pilot gave a quick nod without even turning his head, quickly patching the call through. "Field Commander, General Lelouch on the line." 

"General," the field commander's voice crackled over the comm, controlled amidst the chaos of battle. 

"There's been a change of plans. No Jedi transports are to pursue Dooku. Have them redirect their focus on securing the perimeter and assisting the ground forces," Lelouch commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument. 

There was a brief pause on the other end before the field commander responded, "Understood, General. However, with all due respect, the Jedi will be insistent on chasing Dooku down. They might take matters into their own hands. Two of them are already following on Dooku's personal speeder." 

Lelouch's eyes narrowed. "Leave those two then, delay any others to the best of your abilities. Have the pilots closest to the battlefield but not in active combat sabotage their own ships. Not only is the enemy leader a previous Jedi, it was also one of theirs who escalated the conflict into an open war." It was reaching... slightly.

For the field commander it was more than enough, clearly understanding the weight of Lelouch's words. Just because there is one outside, it doesn't mean there aren't more inside.

"Understood, sir. I'll see to it that the Jedi are... slowed down. But what of Dooku?" 

A smile flickered across Lelouch's face. "I have 8 transports filled to the brim with the Republics' finest who haven't gotten the chance to shoot at anything yet. We'll handle him as long as we get there in time." 

The clones behind him turned to glance at each other, their faces hidden behind their helmets as they straightened up slightly.

The field commander nodded, though Lelouch could sense the pride in his voice as he replied, "As you command, General. I'll relay the orders immediately." 

As the connection closed, Lelouch leaned back in his seat, his mind already working on how to confront Dooku himself. The LAATs continued their rapid descent towards the battlefield below, the sounds of war growing louder as they approached. 

"Pilot," Lelouch called out, "prepare to alter course. Notify the escort. We're heading for Anakin's and Kenobi's transport last known coordinates." 

As he gave his orders, Lelouch tugged at the force. Grabbing the veil that was provided by the dark side, Lelouch disappeared from the Light side and its little soldiers. 

"Yes, General," the pilot responded without hesitation, adjusting the LAAT's trajectory. 

Lelouch's heart pounded in his chest, the same pounding he felt whenever he used to have the combat training sessions with his master. 

'Now you only lack the armor. Too bad we couldn't make a stop home beforehand.' The Lord of Change cackled as it drank into their connection. The darks force serving as a stimulant for him who had to live off of sips as Lelouch played his game with extra caution, never having sank himself in quite this deep since his first days in that alley. 

'I presume i only have minutes until you put an end to this, so I'll work fast. It will be fast, brutal, and only partial, since its only from the Dark side. The force will also not be pleased with us afterwards, it might even kick back... HARD.' 

Behind his clone trooper helmet, Lelouch eyes, now a right and burning yellow shone even brighter, a tint, sometimes blue and sometimes purple flickering within. 

'It matters not. While the Jedi are blocked of due to the Veil the Sith have created slowly over the years, i am certain my master is capable of peering into the future. To what extent... I cannot tell." 

'You can already see and track the patterns. It won't be long until you are able to take it further.' 

'Maybe,' Lelouch mused, 'if I let go of the restraints and submerge myself fully in the Force. But that would require time away from the public eye—years, at the very least. It's not feasible at this time. So, we'll have to do it the hard way.' 

'Rip whatever potential future Sidious is looking at from the force itself for us to take a look at.'The voice in his head finished, sounding almost... ecstatic. 

The transport quickly closed in on its destination, and the scene below began to take shape. The ground was littered with debris and smoldering wreckage of the transport, and near it, the entrance towards a small hangar further within. 

"Disembark," Lelouch ordered, his voice many degrees colder and now far more forceful in its command, almost sending a shiver down the clones' backs. "Let three circles around for another entrance and provide cover afterwards." 

"Yes, sir," came the immediate response from the pilot and troopers. 

The LAATs began to deploy the troops swiftly, one after the other, the clone troopers moving with practiced efficiency. 

Lelouch stepped off the transport, his senses heightened as he surveyed the area. The dark side of the Force pulsed through him, guiding his movements as he approached the entrance of the hangar. His mind was a storm of calculations, each step taken with purpose. He could feel Dooku's presence inside, the Sith Lord's aura a cold, calculating void amidst the chaos. 

As he moved closer, the dark voice spoke again, urging him forward. 

'Finally, after all this time. We get to fry another one.' 

Lelouch could feel that all three within were still alive, and pretty active, meaning that Dooku had merely subdued them... for now. 

As Lelouch slowly and methodically took his steps, arcs of electricity started dancing from his feet, slowly and steadily growing larger as they leapt at the surrounding, creeping at the wall, the ceiling and the floor, heading deeper within the hangar. 

It wasn't long before Lelouch felt 2 of the force signatures fall dormant. 

Continuing his stride, followed by suspiciously quiet clone troopers, Lelouch came face to face with Count Dooku. 

"Count Dooku. I believe it is time for you to depart. The Jedi are on their way here and you still have precious cargo to transport... It is the only reason you remain standing and not hauled over like cargo yourself." 

Dooku didn't take that insult well. He knew the Sith in front of him only from mentions, and while his show of control over the Force was impressive, Dooku was not quite convinced to step back from the clear provocation. 

As he made to take a step forward, lightning jumped from the seemingly calm surface of the floor as it grazed the outline of his robe. 

"It was not..." Lelouch started as he raised his arm, looking a little out of place in clone trooper armor, and brought forward his index finger and thumb, pinching slightly in gesture as he tilted his helmet slightly at him. "... a suggestion, 'Darth' Tyranus." 

A silent scream escaped Dooku as his body went still... as Darth Tyranus felt the pressure being applied on his mind. He couldn't afford to think, the pressure slowly getting stronger and stronger. So overwhelmed was his mind that no message could get through to his body. 

'We don't get this chance every day. You should see how far you could take it using only the force. You should send a warning. It'll serve as a concrete deterrent and possibly buy us much needed space to breath freely.' Tzeentch, seemingly done with whatever he had going on his side, gave his own input on the situation. 

Agreeing himself, Lelouch let his fingers go, as Darth Tyranus kneeled on the floor, breathing heavily as his eyes seemed dull. While the pressure was gone, his mind was still rearranging itself. 

Without bothering to lower his hand, Lelouch snapped his fingers loudly. 

The kneeling Darth Tyranus calmed down quickly, using the force to regulate his physical state as he simply rose to his full height, no trace of his earlier struggle on his face as he calmly strode towards his ship, taking off shortly after. 

Turning around, Lelouch gave his orders to the captain. 

"By the time we arrived, Count Dooku had subdued the Jedi's and was preparing to kill them. Under our blaster fire he was forced to retreat into his ship and take off. Make it so." 

All the clones nodded as the captain promptly ordered them to take specific positions and fire their blasters at his commands. 

A.N: Totally forgot to find a Sith Lord name for Lelouch... yeah... so any ideas you can prop them down here or in the comments. Something cool and grandiose. I liked Darth Imperious (Authority/Influence) but I found one Sith lord by that name in the wiki. Seeing they usually take after Latin...-ish, I found Darth Auctoritas (Authority/Influence) but i don't really like how it rolls off the tongue. We can always just pretend Imperious isn't taken but I'd like your ideas in any case, maybe someone can come up with a cool name. We can postpone it for a while anyway.