Simultaneously, in another part of the palace, a large door opens as a man in dark clothes and a dark cloak draped over his shoulders marches into the wide throne room in the company of several super battle droids.

  The Queen of the palace, of course, already knew of this man’s sudden arrival. Yet, it was still more unexpected than she would have liked to. After all, she did not get any kind of notice of this guest's planned visit. Such rude behavior always put her in a bad mood.

  She was a kind natured ruler, but having to be surprised like this in her own palace was a bit too much. There were even battle droids brought into her throne room. This felt just like an inspection...

  The queen froze for a second at that thought.

  Wait, was this truly an inspection? Outrageous! How does this decrepit old man think to humiliate her? However, no matter how much she would like to, she simply couldn’t raise a voice against one of the most powerful leaders of the separatist droid armies. That being said, she knew that Count Dooku was not a man who would act unnecessarily. There must be a reason behind this sudden move, and she needs to know what it is so she can counter it.

  With that thought in her mind, she laid back against her throne and welcomed the Count with a warm gesture.

  “It is a true pleasure to see you visit me in my humble palace. Count Dooku.”

  “It is far from being a pleasure for me, Queen of Zygerria. Let us leave the niceties behind. There are urgent matters waiting for me, a lot of them concerning the state of this war and the inevitable fall of the corrupt republic.”

  “Then please share with me the reason of your sudden visit.” — Stated the queen in a somewhat annoyed tone.

  “I came here because of an unfortunate realization. Your palace had been infiltrated by Jedi spies. It is likely an attempt to assassinate you as the current leader of the New Zygerrian slave empire.”

  “What?! Jedi infiltrated my castle? HOW! And more importantly, who?”

  “I see that the zygerrians’ lack of skill to find jedi have yet to improve since the last war, which your people had lost, pathetically, if I may add.”

  “We are yet to see if your Separatist coalition will do better in this regard, Count.” — Said the queen with obvious bile.

  “My Separatist coalition, which you are a member of, do not forget about that fact.” — Answered Dooku in a similar manner. — “Be that as it may, a troublesome information had come to my attention, which led me to come here personally. It seems that you recently began to keep jedi slaves as your handmaidens none the less? A wanted girl named Nizzal, more specifically. Bring her before me, right now.”

  The queen’s eyes grow large from hearing that statement, and the ordering way it was given to her. As if she was a slave to be ordered around. With that thought, her mind was completely engulfed with rage. She stood up and shouted at the gray-haired bastard.

  “You will not order me around in my own palace, Count! How do you even dare to question my actions in such a way? Since when do I need to explain my reasons to you in an internal matter of my own palace!?”

  “Since the moment, you decided to ally yourself with the Separatist Systems. Should I remind you, whose armies are currently defending your miserable planet from the republic fleets, or the reason why you are able to openly build a system and economy on the shoulders of slaves? You should have known better to...” — Dooku’s eyes suddenly widened then he uncharacteristically rolled to the right in the middle of his emotional speech.

  The very next second, a series of laser beams hit the ground where he had just stood, and one also managed to hit Dooku on his left calf, making him cry out in pain and surprise. Limping slightly, being unable to place much weight on his left leg, he looked around the hall. Where more and more blaster shots were exchanged.

  The Queen was completely frozen at this moment. She reflexively looked to find the source of the attack. What she found, however, was even more perplexing. The attack came from one of her new guard droids. Did it malfunction, she wondered?

  On the other hand, Count Dooku was so enraged at this outcome that the edges of his eyes began to turn yellow. The super battle droids he used as his escort were slowly destroyed by the six-unfamiliar droids, this type he had never seen before.

  When the droids’ attention once again refocused on him, he immediately ignited his lightsaber, blocking a few laser beams and redirecting them back at two specific droids. The ones that were damaged by his battle droids. They were immediately taken out, lessening their numbers to four.

  He then made a quick pirouette, holding the majority of his weight with his good leg, and cut down another droid that dared to come too close.

  The other three reacting to this, immediately jumped back slightly. They even stopped firing, that made him realized something ominous. These droids were waiting for him to leave an opening. These damned things were programed to fight against force sensitives. He smirked, as he looked towards the queen while never letting down his own guard.

  “I see that I may have judged you too hastily. Your droids are created with the purpose of hunting jedi. Now, I see that the Zygerrian empire has much more value than I thought previously, your majesty. Still, you have gone too far with this presentation. Order your droids to stop, and we will speak of negotiations about your... priced slave. I am willing to buy it, I may also forget your attempt to kill me, if you share the battle program of your bodyguard droids.”

  The queen was not exactly sure at this moment what had triggered her droids to attack. But it, in some miraculous way, have solved her current problem, and also taught the Count a lesson. Therefore, she seamlessly hid her initial surprise and walked back to her throne while telling the droids to stand down. It was only when she sat down and finally turned around that she realized the fact that the tense situation hadn’t changed. The droids were still in battle mode, and they were aiming at the Count.

  “Stand down!” — She shouted again, now much louder. Yet, nothing changed.

  “What is the meaning of this?” — She spoke aloud in genuine surprise.

  “I see.” — Stated the Count. — “I was too quick with the praise, as you are not even capable of controlling your own assets.”

  His eyes narrowed suddenly.

  “Then I have no other way, but to make my own presentation of the immense power of the dark side.” — With that he raised up one of his arms slightly, and at the same time all three of the droids froze. Then soon they also began to raise up into the air, simultaneously with the Count’s hand movement. The droids were already a few meters high, when the Count suddenly dropped down his arm, and the droids followed the motion, crashing into the floor, breaking into hundreds of different parts. Some of them even hit the queen, causing her to flinch in pain.”

  At that moment, the doors burst open with the thrown body of a zygerrian palace guard. Soon after that, more droids began to rush into the throne room. Commando droids, the queen immediately realized. The palace was under attack by the very droids that were guarding it until now. There was not enough zygerrian palace guards to defend against such an attack. She looked back at the still limping form of the Count. For the first time in her life, she felt fear between the walls of her own palace. In the place that until now, was a safe heaven for her. A sardonic thought appeared in her mind as the commando droids continuously flooded into her throne room. Was she a slave to the Separatists all this time? Was this all a cruel illusion, all the power her voice held, her authority, everything?

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  “I have given you a chance to redeem yourself.” — Stated the Count. She looked down at him. She was still sitting on her raised throne, allowing her to always look down on the people and slaves brought before her.

  No, that can’t be the truth. She thought, these droids must have come to her rescue. Yes, that must be the case. She is still the queen, nothing really changed.

  She raised her voice in the same confident way she had done so many times before.

  “Droids, arrest him immediately!” — Not even one of the droids moved. There was complete silence and stillness.

  “What are you waiting for, arrest him, I said! Your queen orders!” — Still nothing happened.

  “I am afraid.” — Said the Count in an apathetic voice. — “That you have missed your chance. There are other pawns at my master’s disposal who will happily take your place at the first opportunity.”

  “What? I am not that easily replaceable. I am the rightful queen. My people will never accept anybody else!”

  “Your people? Ha! This delusion of authority has gone on long enough. The aristocracy of your world will jump on the first chance to take on the royal line! Tell me, dear, who else will stand up for you? Your slaves? My droids? All of your money and wealth becomes useless in front of the unbending power of the dark side.”

  Dooku slowly raised this time, both of his hands in front of him.

  “And now, you will suffer my punishment for your insurgency.”

  “Insurgency?” — Asked the queen in a weak and surprised voice as blue lighting lashed out of Dooku’s fingers, directly hitting her in the chest.

  Her eyesight turned completely white as she fell out of her throne onto the cold marble floor. She felt as her body rolled down the stairs that were leading to her elevated throne. Intense pain pulsed through every part of her body. Her heart was beating erratically. Her blood was boiling in her veins.

  Her body stopped at some point. Now she was lying on her back, on the cold marble floor. She couldn’t see anything, but somehow she was able to hear a dreadful voice, as if it was speaking directly into her mind.

  “How far, the mighty have fallen, Queen of Zygerria. Your delusion of power ends here.”

  Another lightning strike struck the body of the Queen. The once powerful and feared woman, now, was sprawled out on the marble stairs in front of a Darth Lord of the Sith. In the middle of her own palace. The illusion of power was nowhere to be seen anymore. She was howling with an animalistic scream as the lighting slowly cooked her alive. After a few minutes of this, she finally stopped moving. She was dead. The smell of burned hair and burned flesh lingering in the room was the only reminder of her existence.

  The Count turned away from the slightly charred body, and ordered the droids to search the castle for the girl he came for, and of course Anakin Skywalker. He wanted both of them alive, since his master had plans for Skywalker, and he couldn’t go against such explicit orders. Yet the girl was different. He wanted to figure out why his master wanted to kill this twi’lek kid so much. What threat could this mere child hold against the most powerful being in the galaxy? This he needed to know, and if possible harness it, and with time use it against his own master. But, first of all, he needs to find her. To his shame, he got injured on his left leg, but the droids should be up to this task on their own. Even if Skywalker escapes, that girl should be easy to capture.

  ~oOo~

  While those dire circumstances have played out in the throne room, a palace-wide battle began between the droids and the guards. Most of the slaves were caught unaware in the middle of this battle.

  Nizzal and Ahsoka were on their way to meet up with Anakin when they ran into a terrified Eqomu, who immediately told them that a battle had begun in the palace, between the battle droids and the zyggerian palace guards. Faced with the dire situation, the two girls decided to take Eqomu with them and run towards Anakin’s room.

  Soon after, they managed to reach the place, but the firefight was already closing in on them. The sounds of fired blaster guns were echoing through the corridors.

  Ahsoka practically burst into Anakin’s room, immediately closing the door behind them. Eqomu even pushed a nearby wardrobe in front of the door.

  Anakin watched the children play out their antics for a while, then he rolled his eyes and walked up to the heavily breathing bunch.

  “So, what is this commotion?” — He asked them, but none of them seemed to care about his question. With a frown, he turned to his padawan.

  “Soka, tell me the reason that made your new friend feel the need to barricade my door?” — He looked at the mirialan boy with a cursory glance. Then turned to the familiar twi’lek girl, who truly hadn’t changed at all. Only to be forced to look back at his apprentice with a raised eyebrow.

  “The palace is under attack by separatists. Nizzy thinks that Dooku’s spies have managed to find her here. They have come to capture or kill her.” — Ahsoka finally explained.

  Anakin turned back towards the twi’lek with a complicated expression.

  “Don’t give me that look.” — Said Nizzal.

  Suddenly, her collar started vibrating. Everyone turned towards her. Only to see her suddenly paled face with a purely horrified expression.

  She gulped loudly, frozen in place as her life played out before her eyes.

  Ahsoka, too, realized what might have happened and rushed to the side of her friend. In a desperate attempt, she tried to pull off her damned collar using the force. The only thing she achieved with said attempt was to slightly strangle her friend, unfortunately.

  ~oOo~

  From the perspective of Nizzal.

  ‘The moment the collar started vibrating, I realized what must have happened. The queen was dead, and the internal mechanism built into the collar must have been triggered...’

  ‘I didn’t feel any pain so far, but that didn’t mean that the poison wasn’t injected already... There are small enough needles to leave no sense of pain behind.’

  ‘I watched as Ahsoka tried to help me to remove this damned device. If something like that would have been this easy, I would have done it already. I looked at my friend’s worried expression, and the others’ confused ones. Anakin tried to ask Ahsoka the reason for her sudden panic, but she was too confused at the moment, and didn’t answer.’

  I straightened my back and looked my friend in the eye.

  “It’s okay... We need to move. There is no time...”

  “But!” — Shouted Ahsoka.

  “No buts! Move... the... I-I will hold them back... While I can.”

  “What the hell are the two of you talking about!?” — Shouted Anakin as he completely lost his composure from being outright ignored for so long.

  Suddenly, a completely new robotic voice joined the discussion. Yet, it was very familiar to Nizzal.

  “(Statement) Connection has been made to the communication device. Processing local data, redirecting information. Information had been received. Began communications.”

  “You! Where the hell is your voice coming from?” — Nizzal gritted her teeth, realizing who the voice belonged to. — “Even if that is the last thing I do, I will blow you up, you cursed droid!”

  “(Statement) I can speak with you through the communication device built into your collar. There is also a beacon that sends us signals with your current position. The order’s attempt to assassinate Darth Tyrannus has failed. I have sent a rescue team to extract the bait, I mean you. They will arrive through the balcony in a few minutes.”

  “Well, that makes things easier.” — Said Anakin, with a radiant smile. — “I don’t really know who this guy is, but if he tried to assassinate a Darth, I like him already. Also, Tyrannus? Is that supposed to be Dooku? What a stupid ass name. Ha!”

  I blinked as my mouth fell ajar.

  “If... if there is a microphone, a speaker, a beacon signal, and who the hell knows what else, built into this damn collar, then how is there place for twelve different types of poison!?”

  “(Humorous statement) Oh, there is no poison. Our agents have removed that long before it was locked onto you. Now it is nothing more than a communicator and a signaler device. Ah, and it can still shock you if you try to take it off, I suppose…”

  “...”

  “...”

  “...”

  “...”

  “I will destroy YOU!”

  “(Sta--ment) -The sign-- is -ost, they m-st ha-- --ga- to disrupt our comm-...”

  “STOP PRETENDING YOU USELESS JUNK PILE!”

  “Oh, so that was the problem?” — Asked Anakin. — “I am gonna say that this droid definitely managed to get under her skin. Definitely.”

  Ahsoka was also shocked by this whole outcome. She was happy, yet sour, that all her worries seemed to be wasted right now. She couldn’t really react to this completely unexpected outcome, and therefore she instead chose to stand in her place and look at her currently raging friend.

  “Couldn’t you tell me that from the start!? You bastards!” — Said friend was currently shouting into the collar’s microphone in a frenzy.

  Eqomu, in the meantime, managed to understand most of the situation by silently listening to the conversation. He walked up to Anakin and said.

  “Master Jedi, could you somehow remove my collar?”

  “Certainly.” — Answered Anakin. Then waved his hand over the boy’s less fancy collar, which immediately disassembled itself and fell on the floor in small pieces.

  Eqomu was very surprised, seeing how easily his collar fell apart. — “... Thank you, master jedi! I will go out onto the balcony and watch out for this evacuation team.”

  “Good, do so, but be careful!”

  “Yes, Master Jedi!”

  Then Anakin turned back to the still shouting Nizzal.

  “... and who the hell did you call a bait? I will grind you into dust and throw you off of the highest cliff I could ever find, after I have deleted all of your memory copies! I know that you can still hear me!”