Chapter Eighty Two

The first problem facing Dooku in his quest to end the threat of the Sith Lord was finding him, of course. Now he had the name of the being, however, and despite being a public figure, Hego Demask was relatively unknown. Dooku began to quickly back track his history, trying to find the Muun's base of operations. He knew that there had to be one somewhere, but the question was where?

Unfortunately, he ran into the problem that Hego had not been seen in public for over a year now, and before that he had stayed out of the public eye to a level that was astonishing for someone in as powerful position as the head of the banking clan. Then again, that power was based on money after all, not personal charisma or physical holdings, Dooku reflected. Yet another area where the Order's lack of dedicated computer specialists hurt us. The Force can be little aid in terms of following a money trail. Outside of Quinlan, Tholme, and perhaps a handful of others, I doubt any Jedi would even know how to start such a hunt.

However, Dooku was a Jedi Master who had been sent on thousands of missions in his time, from the heights of Core World society to the depths of the worst slums in the known galaxy. He had contacts in nearly the universe over, and some of them included slicers of immense skill. With Padawan Potter and the others away, Dooku too was able to leave the training facility for a time to meet in person with a slicer who owed Dooku an immense favor, having saved the man's wife and his own life on a mission where the man had been framed for a job he hadn't committed.

The discussion with the slicer went incredibly quickly, and Dooku walked away from the meeting with the name of Hego Demask's yacht, which according to what the slicer had discovered had become his home recently. So recently, Dooku made the intuitive leap that Hego had decided to use the yacht as his base going forward after his apprentice had been killed by Mace on Naboo.

The ship in question had been seen in orbit over Coruscant and elsewhere, but it had also disappeared at times, which was worrisome. It meant to Dooku that the Sith Lord might have another permanent base elsewhere. However, with no way to trace the ship's movement beyond a certain level, Dooku would have to hope that the Sith Lord's base could be found after the Muun himself was dead.

With a specific target in place, Dooku returned to the training center, determined to complete Padawan Potter's training to his satisfaction. That this would also allow him to train himself further in the young Jedi's family techniques, as it were, was also a part of his plan going forward.

OOOOOOO

Though Padme and her bodyguards had to turn around only a day after their arrival to head back to Naboo, Harry and the other Jedi planned to stay on Kashyyyk for a few days. She was Queen after all, and duty always called. She boarded the ship the locals had produced for her, their version of a specialized messenger ship, turning back on the gangplank to wave farewell. Harry held up a hand in turn, as did Aayla. "We'll be in touch," Aayla said, a wide smile on her face.

"Believe it!" Padme said with a laugh. "May the Force be with you."

"And with you!" all the Jedi intoned, watching their friend head into the ship.

Master Fay smiled, crossing her arms in her Jedi robes as she stared at the ship as it left. "I still have no more idea why she burns so brightly in the Force as she does when she is not a Jedi, but I can safely say that Padme is one of the good ones." Quinlan, who had arrived that morning, nodded agreement.

Several days later after saying goodbye to Mak and Kass, Harry and his family once more boarded the Lucrehulk, heading back to Serenno. The large ship was even quieter now without Padme and her maids aboard, let alone the Wookies, but the trip was uneventful, thankfully, and once on Serenno they once more settled into life in the training academy. For a time, anyway.

Only a bare week passed since their return before Master Dooku intoned that Harry had reached a level where Dooku was confident that, in his words, "the young man will not embarrass me for the amount of time I have given to his care. I believe, young padawan, that it is time for you to build your own lightsaber at last."

Raising an eyebrow, Fay stared at Dooku, then slowly nodded. She sensed something there, but it wasn't anything to do with Harry's level of skill, so she decided to bring it up with Dooku later. For now she would concentrate on Harry. "Yes, I agree. The connection between lightsaber and Jedi is not one that I have ever felt, but I have long believed that Harry's construction of his lightsaber should be important. Indeed, I think the Light Side of the Force has had a hand in making me see that."

There was more than one raised eyebrow among the other masters at that phrasing, but Fay ignored them as did Dooku. "In that case, we should once more make use of my family's map of known galactic space. Follow me."

Moments later, Fay, Quinlan, the two Padawans, Shaak Ti, Dooku, Giiett, Alecto, and some of the other more interested Masters all stood around the massive hologram which had been passed down in Dooku's family since the Sith had been thrown out of Serenno. They all formed a loose circle around it, with Harry facing the door into the amphitheater like structure, Fay directly across from him, and with Aayla and Quinlan equidistantly across from one another.

Fay stood forward as the hologram appeared in the center of the room, her voice formal and almost rolling in cadence. "In my days as a padawan, padawans would always receive access to maps much like this one, when they are thought to be ready to build their own lightsabers. Most of the time nothing happens, and they are given a choice of the few known planets to have lightsaber crystals, such as Adega or Ilum. Other times, padawans are given crystals as symbols of regard from Masters or Knights."

Aayla smiled over at Master Giiett, holding up one of her lightsabers, flicking the beam on and off. "I found one crystal on Ilum, and Master Giiett gave me the other. He'd found it in the gullet of a lizard."

"I did indeed," the squat Jar'kai user said, smiling in turn at Aayla. She and Zule had been a delight for the Jar'kai user to train, and he had actually wanted to take on Zule as an apprentice, but Glaive had beat him to it while Micah was out on a mission. Alecto was an excellent padawan, and as a Sentinel himself, Micah had even more to teach him then he had the two girls. But in terms of lightsaber training, the two were not very much alike, which hampered that area of Alecto's ongoing training, though Dooku and the other Masters had stepped into that gap here at the training center.

"So how do I do this? Do I just reach out to the Force with the idea of lightsaber crystals in my mind?" Harry asked, stepping forward so he was now actually within the hologram device, staring all around him at the lights of star clusters and at the other Jedi.

"That's essentially it, yes," Fay replied.

Alecto smiled, shaking his head. "I narrowed my choices down from those two planets to one when I was given the choice to try, but that was the only thing that the Force told me. Funnily enough, I know that Mak and Kass found twin crystals, though they didn't find them through the Force until they arrived on Ilum. After they did, however, it was like they were being pulled by a lodestar. The feeling is like you're being called, almost, or it was to me, a sound becoming louder in the direction you need to go."

Many of the other Masters and padawans agreed with that, only the Gand master remaining silent, as was his wont. Fay also didn't say anything. After all, she had never done this ritual herself, only seen it happen when she was younger.

"Okay, I think I have a handle as to what to do now, or at least what to look out for. Feel out for? When it comes to the Force, nomenclature is always weird," Harry said to a chorus of wry chuckles.

He breathed in, centering himself in the Force before raising both of his hands. This was a dramatic gesture that Harry didn't really need, but which did slightly help him concentrate his Force powers, and it seemed to fit the moment as well. And, as he spread his fingers, he sent out his mind into the Force, seeking guidance as to where he should go.

For several minutes the hall was silent as Harry's Force presence reached out. The Masters who had only seen him teach so far, those who didn't know Harry very well, were startled by the amount of power the youth had, his Force presence nearly creating an umbra around him, merging with that of Fay, Aayla and the Force Ghost, in some fashion they could not quite conceptualize.

They watched as Harry's arms first fell back to his sides, then his dominant arm rose, a single finger pointing to a section of the map. The section enlarged, seeming to blink for a moment as it downloaded from a long past version of itself. Then it expanded again and again, blinking each time, going further and further back to past stored versions. Harry's eyes opened, immediately seeking out his master's. "There, master. I will find what I seek there."

"Oh dear…" Master Fay murmured, as she and the other Masters in the room looked at the section of the map so indicated. "That is troublesome; those are the Unknown Territories."

"Unknown now, but they were known at one point," Dooku mused, thinking hard. "That, if I am reading this correctly, is Ruusan. That entire territory has been cut off from the rest of the Republic; thanks to the shift in the nebulae that surrounds it no hyperspace jump is safe. Worse was the damage done to the Ruusan system in the final campaign of the New Sith Wars. I have no idea if there is any way to even reach the planet."

At that the other Masters all nodded, agreeing with Dooku. Even Giiett nodded, though he felt something, a tug of something here, as if the Force was trying to tell him something which he could not quite grasp. To his side, Aayla, Quinlan, and Alecto looked at one another, then back at Harry before looking at the image of the planet, feeling the same gentle, almost missed pull of the Force.

"I, however, note you said `what I seek,' Harry, but you didn't mention your lightsaber crystal by name," Lily said, bringing all the masters' attention to the young padawan who still stood unmoving in the center of the hologram.

"…No mum, I didn't. I think my lightsaber crystal is there, but there's also something else, something I need, no, the Light Side of the Force wants me to do," Harry said, his voice growing with certainty as he continued to speak. "I need to go there."

Fay nodded slowly. "I too feel the pull now. It is the same I have felt all my life, the Force moving me as it wills." She looked around keenly, allowing a faint smile to appear on her face. "And I am not alone."

It could have been a question, but it wasn't. It was a certainty, and Alecto, Quinlan, and Aayla all stepped forward, followed by Giiett a moment later. The council member shook his head slightly as the other gathered masters looked at him in surprise. "I haven't felt such a touch in many years, not one so ephemeral yet certain."

"Then I suggest you all start planning how to get there. And we should probably send for another member of the High Council," Dooku cautioned. "One member of the council should always be here given certain lessons being taught here, just to answer questions, if nothing else. I would also tell you to take the Lucrehulk with you."

Fay frowned at that, while Lily nodded. "The Lucrehulk is a far more defensible ship than your yacht, Fay. Sorry. Besides, we could store your yacht in the Lucrehulk easily."

"Yes, its defenses will stand you in good stead. However, the reason you should take it is two-fold. One, it is large enough to house the Hypercom generator we took from the pirates. That is stored here on Serenno, and it could be used to help keep you in contact with the rest of the galaxy, though that will be little help physically."

Dooku winced, stroking at his goatee. "The hyperspace lanes in that area change hour to hour, so it's doubtful any ship could arrive in time to help you even if you needed it, but that brings me to my second reason to use the Lucrehulk: its drives are far more robust than any yacht. The Neimodians used such ships all the time as they were finding their proprietary hyperspace routes. It will survive coming out of hyperspace suddenly far better. Further, the larger ship will be much more pleasant to live on for an extended period of time. Jumping into the unknown as you will be, you'll be lucky to make more than a single light year per jump."

Harry nodded agreement at that point, though the idea of such an emergency exit from hyperspace wasn't very pleasant. After that, the group began to plan for what would they would need and who to contact. Micah called the Order, telling them about this mission in a circuitous way over the Hypercom, while the others began to load up the monstrous ship with supplies and the Hypercom generator. This took them several days, but by the end of that time they were ready, and Master Billaba was on the way to take Micah's place. She would arrive with Knight Vosa, who would take over the lightsaber training duties that Micah was leaving behind, along with Dooku.

The evening that the group was due to leave, Dooku was meditating in his room alone as usual, happy at how events had played out. Harry was ready to continue his lightsaber education on his own, and he and Fay were being called away by the Force, and so would be out of the way, hidden from the backlash of what he was going to do, if there was one.

He came out of his meditation as he felt a presence at his door. Sensing his acquiescence, Master Fay entered, moving to kneel down across from where Dooku was already sitting, his legs crossed under him.

For a moment the two of them were silent, examining one another, then Master Fay spoke, her voice soft, but her words blunt. "You are troubled by something, something that has been eating at you for months now. I think it has something to do with the Dark Side user or users that are still out there, but your control is such that even that is more guesswork than I am used to. I would applaud you for that level of control if I was not so concerned."

Master Dooku looked calmly at the ageless Master Fay, feeling none of the niggling bit of jealousy at that ageless nature that he had upon meeting her in person for the first time, and a few times after. But neither did he have any wish to bare his soul to the ancient woman. This is my burden, my destiny, no one else's. "I thank you for your concern, but I am fine. I am disturbed, and getting more so by the lack of progress of the search for the Dark Side user, but that should not surprise you. Indeed, I will be turning over the training facility to Master Giiett and Knight Ti. She is a master in all but name at this point, and an excellent lightsaber instructor, as is Giiett. My absence will not be missed, and I feel the Force is telling me I am needed on this hunt."

Frowning now, Fay looked at Dooku unblinking for a moment. "I can tell there is more to this than that, but I would say you are underselling your presence here. I would wish for the Force to be with you, but if it is already telling you that, then it is telling you more than it has me about this specific issue. Just make certain it is the Force you are hearing and not the voice of your own hubris, Master Dooku. Also, remember that if anything were to happen to you, you would be sorely missed."

"Thank you for the word of warning and the compliment, Master Fay," Dooku said, allowing a faint smile to appear on his face. "I will take them to heart, I assure you."

The next day Dooku watched as Master Fay and the young padawan whose presence had already changed the Order so much took the shuttle up to the Lucrehulk, whose name the two padawans were apparently arguing over at the moment. The thought nearly made him chuckle, but his mind was already on other things. I am sorry, Master Fay, but the Force can often be cruel. While I would be happy to remain here, to see you and young Harry return, this is my burden, my penitence. I may die on this mission; in fact, it is almost certain. But I will join the Force gladly if in so doing I can end this threat to the universe once and for all.

But that does not mean I cannot plan for what will occur after I am gone. With that thought Dooku returned to his room and sent for his family's dictation droid. He had a few legal documents to ready…

Dooku remained on Serenno for several days after Fay and her group had left, preparing for his own departure. Since it was not the first time he had done this, no one made any comment, not even the newly arrived Depa Billaba. And with the arrival of Knight Vosa, a Jedi Knight of some repute with a lightsaber, it wasn't as if Master Dooku's presence was required any longer.

Yet some kind of feeling, not quite enough to tell her that it came from the Force, told Depa, standing by the yacht that Dooku had commissioned for this trip, that this would be the last time she saw Master Dooku alive. "May the Force be with you, Master Dooku," she said formally, clasping the tall man's hand. "And whatever you are doing, please be careful?" she asked, more of a hint of warning in her voice. But she felt she could not question the older Master more than that.

"I cannot promise to be careful," Dooku said softly, making no mention of his mission. "I can only promise that I will be successful."

Depa stared at him for a moment, but her Force senses could tell her nothing about what Dooku planned, and in the end she sighed, nodded, and released the other Master's arm. She was still there, watching the stars, as Dooku's yacht went to hyperspace.

OOOOOOO

"That was a masterful stroke, Sidious, even if it does look to be taking you away from Coruscant for a few days. You made Senator Gdrilla look like a fool, and thus his entire Separate Legislative branch movement,"

Plagueis said, giving a tiny, somewhat sardonic handclasp as he stared through the communications screen to his fellow Sith. The movements Sidious had been making of late in the Senate had made the Muun Sith realize how much the human male from Naboo meant to the Great Plan every time he looked at them. Plagueis had hoped that they would become true equals at this moment, when the Great Plan began to enter its final stages, but it was excellent to see that such was indeed the case.

"Thank you, master. I do admit that Gdrilla surprised me by asking me to come to Alsaka, but I can use this to further our hold in the Core Worlds. Alsaka might once have been a rival to Coruscant, but those days are millennia in the past, and it is time they learn who their masters are, even if the reins will need to remain hidden from most for now," Sidious said, allowing a smile to cross his face for a moment. "I have already given Sate Pestage and my other aides their orders for while I am away."

"Indeed. You leave tomorrow, correct?" When Sidious nodded, Plagueis went on. "I will remain here until you return. The few days away will not matter overmuch to my current experiments. However, there are a few I would like you to see, so schedule your return in such a way that you can get away for a few days."

"I look forward to it, master," Sidious replied. "However, I am afraid I must sign off here. I need to be back and visible in my office within thirty minutes."

Plagueis nodded, immediately cutting the connection, and Sidious turned away, moving over to once more don his Chancellor robes. As he did, Sidious raised a hand to his face, feeling the actual, real smile there for a moment. Deluded fool, to be so surpassed by your apprentice and never even realizing it! You will die, and I alone will control the Veil and the Sith for all time!

While a droid put the finishing touches on his ensemble, Sidious wondered if he should try to take some precautions, just to make certain that Dooku was able to truly do away with his former teacher. Plagueis was, after all, an incredible duelist, and master of many more esoteric combat arts. Dooku, for all his skill, might well be overwhelmed by him. And who knows what information Plagueis's ship contains. I need to be certain it too is destroyed.

With that thought, he decided to send a little computer virus with that evening's data package. The two Sith had gotten into the habit of exchanging information like that in packets, since they could so rarely interact in real time together given Sidious's busy schedule. The virus would activate after a set amount of time and erase all of the rest of the ship's computers in time, including the operating system, save for the hyperspace computer. The ship would then act on a predetermined hyperspace jump to take the ship directly into the Coruscant System's sun. No matter who wins this battle, I will be the one truly victorious!