"What do you collect the sap for?" Athemeene asked, looking like she didn't quite approve of the practice.
"It is used to make a chewable cube that when eaten makes your mouth black." Hoves explained. "Soldiers use it when going to war. Every village will draw from their own stinky tree."
...
Curious, Tan'ya wandered forward alone, looking for plaques in each of the trees. Many of them were names she didn't recognise at all, on trees that appeared newer and smaller than the one that was feeding on Darth Malus. They bore the names of more recent, secular rulers of Serenno. Finally, at the furthest edge of the grove were the two smallest trees, barely more than saplings. Their name plates read, Kun Gora, and Kun Rami. Count Gora and Count Ramil.
When Dooku saw the trees, he turned with an arched eyebrow towards Hoves. "Do you intend to bury me here as well?"
Hoves looked scandalised at the idea. "Of course not, Your Majesty. This is a place for those who have committed grave crimes against our people. You have saved us from tyranny, and brought law and peace."
It was almost like the ancient Roman practice of damning or deifying each emperor once they died. It was a kind of final justice the people were able to inflict on tyrants after death.
"You say each village has its own tree?"
"Where a murderer or raider is buried."
Or a bad chieftain, Tan'ya assumed. She shivered, trying to ignore the damp cold feeling of the fog on her cheek. As Tan'ya looked around, she finally saw a name that caused her to raise an eyebrow. Darkymas. "Look, Darth Chymus." Tan'ya pointed it out to her father. He was the Sith who's notes she had been able to read, excavated from the old ruins. He had actually been alive, hidden away in a safe room for more than a thousand years until he was killed by Mace Windu. "This must be his body double."
Dooku frowned, considering it. "I'll instruct Narec to petition the Jedi to release his body to us." When she shot him a surprised look, he added with a wry smile, "We wouldn't want him to evade our laws."
Slowly, the family congregated back near the speeder, after satisfying their curiosity. The Cold Grove was beautiful, in its own twisted, and haunted way. As they started to get back into their speeder, Dooku lingered for a moment with Tan'ya as he surveyed the area. His eyes lingered for the longest time on the largest tree in the centre of the grove, before turning towards his children. His gaze went from Ideon in Athemeene's arms, to Madalee, then Kenth, before finally he made eye contact with Tan'ya.
He swallowed once, before finally looking at his wife. Athemeene gazed at Dooku impassively, showing neither favor nor hatred.
"...I can't regret what I've done." Dooku finally said. "Even with all my mistakes, even with the evil I've brought upon this family… I wouldn't have any of you, if I hadn't made them. Athemeene, I can't ask you to forgive me, or to ever trust me again, but please. Have faith in this." He indicated his children. "Have faith in something greater than ourselves."
The suddenness of Dooku's passionate words caught Tan'ya completely by surprise. She found herself exchanging an awkward look with Vai, who looked almost equally as uncomfortable.
Tears seemed to well in Athemeene's eyes, and she tried to wipe them away, but it didn't seem to work. Not sure what to do, Tan'ya offered her a handkerchief, but found her mother holding her wrist. She didn't resist as Athemeene pulled her in close and hugged her tight, shuddering. Tan'ya swallowed a strange lump that seemed to appear in her throat, which only grew worse as Ideon started crying as well, and was joined by Madalee and Kenth. Athemeene buried her face in Tan'ya's shoulder, and began weeping, shuddering and hiccuping.
The outpouring of emotion even caused the Force to swell. For a moment the mists of the Cold Grove were pushed back, and sunlight broke through from above.
The whole thing was so melodramatically embarrassing, that Tan'ya couldn't meet Vai's gaze. No doubt the stoic Mandalorian was equally mortified.
"I can't protect you." Athemeene whispered to Tan'ya. "Not anymore. Even this young, you're so grown up. Please, just remember. I believe in you. Always."
Okay, but please get a hold of yourself.
Finally the sappy waterworks were over, and at last the family was ready to leave again. Dooku and Athemeene sat together, leaning into each other as she clung to his arm and rested her head on his shoulder.
All together, the family flew away from the cold graveyard of dead tyrants, back to the warmth of their home where for a time, the pressures of the Galaxy would not rest so heavily on their shoulders.
...
( 7 Years Later )
( 22 BBY )
The six Lucrehulks were ripped from hyperspace without any hint of a warning. Captain Bwell gaped in astonishment from the bridge of the TDF Conference Call at the sudden appearance of real space. He was so shocked by the suddenness of it that he dropped his caf stim and cursed, skittering back from the hot fluid.
"What was that?!" He demanded, then grimaced, looking down at the new stain on the hem of his robes. Dismissing the spill from his mind, he turned to his helmsman, who looked as bewildered as he did. This early in the morning the two of them were the only ones on the bridge. The only reason Bwell himself had been up here was a fleeting desire to watch hyperspace with a hot drink in hand.
"Sir, we've hit a gravity well!" The Neimoidian technician shouted from his station.
Bwell gaped in disbelief. "We're still on the Hydian! The whole point of a hyperlane is that it has no gravity wells! Did we drift off course?"
The helmsman scrambled for an answer, opening the navicomputer and double checking his information. "No, sir. We're still on the Hydian. The nearest star is light years away."
"Then what gravity well did we hit?" Bwell demanded. He hurried over to the man's station, leaving his now empty cup behind and leaning over the technician's shoulder, who could only shrug in confusion.
"It's not just us, sir. The entire fleet got pulled out as well." The technician continued to check his sensors, until finally he said. "Here, sir. We've got… something."
"Something? What something?"
"I don't know." He pushed a few more buttons, and brought the image up as a hologram. "It appears to be a ship, sir."
Captain Bwell regarded the projected ship with confusion. It was a make and model he didn't recognise at all, with an unusual shape. It had wings and thrusters, attached to a large blocky body, but what really made it strange was the four massive spheres constructed into its surface. It was painted black, and appeared to be unarmed.
"Did it get grabbed as well?"
"Uh… sir, it appears to be the source of the gravity well." The technician answered.
"What?" Bwell gaped. His mind raced, trying to understand what was happening. Eventually, he gave up. "Call up the rest of the bridge crew. I know it's the night cycle, but call them up! I'll contact the Commodore."
"Yes sir." The man replied, fingers flying across his terminal as he got to work.
Before he called his superior, Captain Bwell hurried to his personal quarters to replace his uniform. A report of an unkempt appearance on his record was the kind of thing that might get him passed over for promotion.
He had just stepped into his room and slipped off his robes, when he heard a loud metallic clang reverberating through the ship's hull. It was so loud it left his ears ringing, and he already felt a headache coming on. The Captain's Quarters were just a few corridors from the bridge, so he quickly swapped to his new uniform and hurried back.
"What was that noise?" He demanded, and was glad to see a few more Nemoidians at their stations than just the technician.
"We're being boarded!" The technician pointed directly up. "A ship has attached itself directly to the hull above us!"
With a jolt that made his heart thud in his chest, Captain Bwell realised what was happening. This was an ambush. He'd never seen combat in his life, and now he was faced with an ambush. That ship out there was somehow able to create its own gravity well, and it had been used to drag them out of Hyperspace. Now they were being boarded.
Gaping, lips flapping, Captain Bwell rushed over to the holocom. "Commodore! Commodore, can you hear me?!" He demanded.
...
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