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Let Chaos Reign Chapter 39: Sand and Toxins
“Come now, boy. Do not tell me this is all you can manage to do.” Dooku reprimanded him.
Each clash of their blades was just another piece of Anakin’s armor taken away. Dooku’s blade was a scalpel, and he was the surgeon at an operating table. He cut through anything Anakin tried to do with a finesse and ease that was born of nonstop drilling and decades of experience with Makashi.
The Sith looked down at Anakin, and it rankled him. It was made worse by the fact he was powerless against the somehow younger Dooku. His youth wasn’t just for looks. He moved younger and had the strength he lacked when he was an old man.
“Why are you younger?” Anakin said through gritted teeth and almost swore up a storm when Dooku nearly severed several fingers on his sole remaining flesh and blood hand.
The man was moving faster and with strength that even Anakin, with all of his improvements, in an attempt to overcome the Count amounted to nothing. With one hand. Anakin was going all out, putting everything he had to overcome him, and it wasn’t enough.
“Far from it.” He managed to narrowly avoid his nose and one of his eyes getting taken out by the man.
The two were a frenzy of limbs with blue and red afterimages. While Anakin battered away at him like a siege engine at the enemy's gates, Dooku was a fortress. One that had teeth.
His strikes just slid off or were redirected, and then the brief openings Anakin thought he was incapable of taking advantage of were taken advantage of. He was on the back foot, and a few of the clones tried to assist him when they had a shot, but none of it worked.
An overhead strike that was like an avalanche was brushed aside, and he almost lost his arm from the parry.
Ahsoka was a scythe amidst harvested crops. She moved and circled around the battlefield, cutting through the droids using the truth to see which ones were truly down and those that weren’t. She had settled for just taking out their limbs. Even if they were still functioning, they couldn’t do anything when all of their limbs were severed.
She looked in Anakin's direction, eyes widening at the sight of her master struggling so badly and almost getting sliced apart multiple times with each exchange with Dooku.
“Your focus is slipping. Do not insult me, Skywalker.” Dooku admonished him by almost taking out both of his legs. “To think all this time I let you live because of my master.”
Dooku scoffed, completely uncaring of Anakin’s attempts to turn this fight around. Dooku was just having a leisurely stroll while Anakin broke out every trick or means he had kept hidden from the Count, waiting for a time when he knew he could take him. The comment that Dooku had been going easy on him had him get rather agitated.
Every other time they had clashed, he knew the Count likely had a means to escape or something to distract them. It’s why he never used any of his tricks before… and partly because Anakin had wanted to humiliate him in return.
Just when Ahsoka was about to go and assist him, everyone stopped. The droids fighting against fellow droids and clones paused, but especially those gifted with the power to use the Force.
Like a great predator surfacing from the deep so massive and great in size you couldn’t tell where it began and ended or even what part was what simply for the size and power it commanded. That was what it felt like for Dooku, Anakin, and Ahsoka.
All across the galaxy, anyone capable of using the Force, however minuscule, had their attention drawn towards Malastare. The darkness came to life, stirring and taking shape.
Unlike the normal cold dread that came with the dark side, this was different. It had that cold feeling to it, but it was directed and intensified. Death itself was focusing on one singular person, finding them interesting.
Even Dooku, who was well versed in the power and usage of the dark side, enough so that even Sidious himself had deigned to not teach him anything of it beyond the incredibly bare minimum, balked at the sheer scope and scale of the darkness that grew on the planet.
It felt as if all the light, with it the joy and what little good could be found on this dreary planet, was instantly evaporated, and in its place came a flood of darkness.
Dooku paused at Anakin's relief, with everyone turning towards the direction where it was coming from. It was also capable of being witnessed by those around them, whether clones or droids, when the air and light froze before the shadows around them grew and moved hypnotically as if dancing. The once hot air turned frigid, everyone who could breathe saw mist coming from their mouths.
Then the darkness surged forward. “Obi-Wan!” Anakin cried out, snapping out of the stupor that for once in his life since he was a small child made him hesitate to do anything. He realized in that moment that whatever was happening over there was where Obi-Wan was at when a detachment of clones went to assist him.
Dooku’s grip around his lightsaber tightened. If Maul had done anything to Obi-Wan, he swore the former Sith would suffer greatly. He would do this regardless of what Tobi thought or would do.
Even from where they all stood and watched as mere ants before a dark and terrible giant from the unknown, they could see the dark edges of whatever Maul had managed to do expanding into the air and surroundings.
This made Dooku have second thoughts about easily beating Maul. Just what had he done to create whatever that was?
For him, it felt like he was standing temporarily in the presence of Sidious… Maybe even greater than him.
Just when Skywalker was about to abandon the battlefield, his crimson blade found itself barring the Chosen One's path.
“Last I checked, I did not give you permission to leave. Our duel is far from finished.”
Anakin’s attempt to leap over him made him pause when a warning went through him and he saw visions of him losing his legs and sole remaining arm. His face scrunched up before their duel once more continued with the growing shadow of whatever that was.
Anakin just hoped those clones got to Obi-Wan soon enough to help with whatever did that as concern for his former master and the closest thing he had to a brother grew. All of that emotion was fed into his strikes, now managing to make Dooku adopt a look of concentration.
He had faith in Ahsoka and the rest to manage the durable droids. He caught glimpses of just how much it takes to destroy them, nearly turning their metal chassis into molten slag.
Each blow would have been enough to break most sentient arms, whether they were Force sensitive or not. Yet Dooku was calm as usual as he met his brute strength with vastly superior skill and technique. For Dooku, he moved about like a dancer, whereas Anakin was merely a warrior.
Something Dooku looked down upon. Even with Anakin falling dangerously close to that line he had grown all too familiar with, the same one he willingly walked over when he lost his mother and the grief that consumed him. That same grief turned to anger and vengeance.
Just when Anakin pondered stepping over it again, a jade blade met Dookus that forced his strike off course. Anakin’s azure blade, now close to cutting his arm off, was met with a blast of electricity from Dooku's free hand.
It snapped at the air, slamming into Anakin’s saber, pushing it back with far more power than the traitor to the Jedi Order had ever used before.
“Allow me to teach you just as I taught your master, child.” Dooku looked down his nose at Ahsoka.
Anakin bristled at the mere idea of him hurting Ahsoka. She didn’t say a word, instead opting to move around him, trying to find any openings since she saw Anakin’s fight against him and he was losing. Badly.
“Ahsoka, go back and find Obi-Wan. He is out of your league," Anakin angrily said.
“W-What?! I can’t just leave you!” She protested but went wide-eyed when Dooku’s saber came far too close to taking her hand. Had she not seen the deception, she would have lost it.
Instead, she pulled it back just enough to avoid the blow. She moved around, realizing Dooku, despite using Makashi as his preferred form, was fast. Deceptively so.
Enough that for someone like Ahsoka, who preferred Ataru, whose users were known for their speed and agility, it was easily outclassed. Anakin came in to try to get his attention back, but Dooku saw the weak link to the chain and was exploiting it without any hesitation.
It’s something that made Anakin become even sloppier. Sure, he had more power and speed helping him, but there was no grace or finesse to it.
“I’m not abandoning you. Obi-Wan is probably fine-”
Ahsoka’s words were cut off when, in one smooth motion, Dooku's crimson blade snapped out and knocked Ahsoka’s saber from her hand, then the other, after making her overextend. A quick usage of lightning sent her crying back in pain, and Anakin's eyes widened in horror before they narrowed and he stepped over that line.
Just when his blade was about to take the traitor's head, the Count moved. It was faster than Anakin could dream to keep up with. He practically danced around him, forcing him onto the defensive. Each precise strike was taking him apart before he forced Anakin's saber off to the side.
His blade is now ready to go for the kill. Crimson red stretched out like a blood-red fang ready to carve through his neck. Just when the blade was a mere inch from his neck, Anakin paused in shock, noting how it had stopped.
But what held his attention was the robed figure with that orange spiral mask…
"Tobi," Anakin snarled.
He didn’t even turn to look at Anakin. "You're welcome, Anakin. As for you,” He said, not sounding too pleased with Dooku. “I recall specifically telling you not to kill these three. Maybe mildly injuring them, but cutting limbs, electrocution with too much power, or killing were not allowed.”
His hand gripped Dooku’s forearm, stopping him from going through with his desire to finish the Chosen One right now in the most humiliating way he could think of.
Despite how it may seem to outside observers, Dooku was trying his best to at least harm Skywalker. With no Sidious around to keep him on a leash, he wanted to cut the boy down for how insufferable he was.
Yet Tobi’s grip was like a Beskar vice, he couldn’t even free himself, let alone use his restored strength to break free.
“You alright, Ahsoka?”
His mask turned towards Ahsoka, who, despite grimacing from the pain of getting electrocuted, was still willing to fight and not far off. She paused when she saw the amused, crinkled eye of Tobi.
“Y-yeah.” She looked hesitant, looking between him and Dooku.
Anakin himself was no longer staring at Dooku but Tobi. “You!” He seethed and had so much resentment in just that one word.
Dooku scoffed at the farce unveiling itself for all to see. Then it turned to annoyance when he realized he was a part of it. He looked at his arm, and a slight tug told him all he needed to know -- his arm wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Something Anakin knew despite his apparent anger. “I knew you were the Sith Lord! If you're working with Dooku, then that alone proves it.” He snarled before he raised his lightsaber, ready to cut Dooku’s arm off along with Tobi’s.
Dooku, realizing he is now vulnerable, turned towards Tobi, hoping he wasn’t about to get the two of them killed. Instead of raising his own blade or letting go of Dooku, to everyone’s collective surprise, he lazily raised his gloved hand and pointed a finger at Anakin, who was about to cut off their limbs.
“Pocket sand. Sh-sh-sha!” He said with a happy tone before a blast of sand smacked Anakin right in the face, making him abort the attack and back away.
His lightsaber held at the ready, instantly melting the sand down to nearly nothing with his lightsaber as he rubbed at his eyes with the back of his other hand.
“A little taste from your home, Anakin. Tatooine sand is the gift that keeps giving. It’s coarse, rough, and irritating as hell, and it gets everywhere. And now you have a literal taste of it.” Tobi glibly said.
Everyone just stared in absolute befuddlement at what was even happening. The corners of Dooku's mouth twitched and curved slightly upwards at the sight.
“… You did not just do that.” Anakin seethed. His eyes were closed, and one of his hands was rubbing furiously at his eyes to get the sand out.
Dooku’s hand was now released, and he quickly pulled it back, extinguishing his lightsaber, curious as to how far Tobi would embarrass Skywalker.
"Oh, but I did. Just brought a little bit of our home with me. All for you," He said warmly. “How about a big sandy hug?”
Anakin finally got the sand out and leveled Tobi with a glare that would freeze hell over with the redness tinting his eyes. “And how about you take all that sand and shove it- oh what now?!”
His insult was cut off mid-sentence when a massive sandy arm grabbed him from behind and pulled him into the chest of a two-meter-tall humanoid being made up entirely of the sand Tobi had tossed out.
“What is- get off of me!” He fought and hit the giant sand golem, but despite his strikes sinking into the sand, deforming it, the thing was not harmed in the slightest.
Slowly, the massive thing before their collective eyes and photoreceptors filled in the damage with more sand. Dooku had a fond smile on his face at the sight of Skywalker getting embarrassed by whatever method Tobi had managed to create that creature.
Yet he and the rest who could touch and use the Force couldn’t feel anything coming from Tobi. No hint of the Force in the slightest. He was as dry of it as the old Tatooine desert was with water.
Anakin finally had enough of the creature doing as Tobi said it was, hugging him, with his body halfway submerged into the soft coarse sand. With a mental flex and a gesture of his hand, the creature froze for a heartbeat before it was blown away and turned to nothing but sand scattered amongst the surroundings.
He breathed heavily, not from exertion, although that was part of it, the majority was from his anger and emotions becoming even more turbulent. If a look could kill, Anakin’s would have killed Tobi a thousand times over.
Dooku would privately admit he would be halfway impressed with Skywalker's glare. But he lost far too many points when he was covered in sand and made to look like a fool.
Tobi tilted his head towards Ahsoka, who looked unsure if she should attack Tobi or have a weird but friendly conversation with him. She looked to be leaning more towards attacking him, albeit with no small amount of hesitation if the torn look she was wearing was any sign.
“I think he likes his gift. What do you think, tubby?”
Ahsoka froze for a second before she let out a tired sigh. One that felt far older than her age would suggest.
“For the last time, I am not overweight. And please stop antagonizing my master, Tobi. More importantly, why are you with Dooku?” She had her lightsabers at the ready but wasn’t going in for the attack just yet. She was torn on whether he truly was the Sith they were after.
“How about asking why his head left his shoulders, Snips?" Anakin growled, moving towards him with his lightsaber ready to strike.
Tobi just remained where he was, uncaring of the threat and the attempt to follow through with it. Dooku also remained by his side, brow quirked at what was happening behind Anakin.
Anakin froze for a moment, then noticed too late the shadow that loomed over him. A massive limb of sand wrapped around him again, but Anakin was quick on the draw, slicing off the sandy appendage.
A force push from his hand sent it scattering again before he turned to look towards where Tobi had been. Even Dooku looked stunned at where he had gone, not having noticed his disappearance.
“Wow. Dramatic much, aren’t we?” His voice grated on Anakin’s nerves as he whirled to see the hooded figures' eyes crinkling in amusement.
Anakin’s eyes narrowed before he brought his saber down. This time Anakin felt some satisfaction when his lightsaber faced a brief momentary resistance.
“Master, that's not Tobi," Ashoka said.
To his and everyone’s astonishment the form of Tobi for those looking directly at him cracked and shattered. What Anakin and Dooku thought was Tobi was just a pane of glass-like material, as his voice laughed for all to hear.
“Smoke and mirrors, Skywalker, so easily tricked. No wonder you can never get one over on me. Not when something this simple works on you.” Anakin whirled around, seeing six different Tobi’s staring at him, cloaks swaying with the wind, and each had his voice coming from them. It was practically impossible to tell which one was real unless you were staring from the proper angle.
With a blast of the Force from his outstretched hands, they all shattered.
“Dooku and the rest of our group have more important things to handle. You stay out of trouble while your present from Tatooine cuddles you. You,” Finger pointed at Ahsoka as she tilted her head to figure out what was even happening. “Keep him on a short leash. He likes to find trouble.”
A waggle of his fingers almost had Anakin sever them. “Time to go, Dooku. Those fuel depots and refineries won’t destroy themselves. And don’t worry about Kenobi, he is a little roughed up but still perfectly healthy.”
“Obi-Wan better not be- Wait! You're not going anywhere…”
Anakin trailed off, watching Dooku and Tobi disappear into a swirl of nothingness before he could do anything.
He let out a long, suffering sigh, trying to knock off the sand that still covered him and finding it getting everywhere like sand tends to do.
"Alright, we need to- can you not!” He yelled out when the sand golem appeared yet again, picking him up from behind and hugging Anakin. He kicked his legs and fumed with narrowed eyes.
Ahsoka would have laughed if the situation was not so dire after they had finally dealt with the last of the droids. If you could call the scraps of leftover molten metal droids.
"Ahsoka, go and get Obi-Wan while I handle this thing.” He growled out as some of the clones tried to pull him free, only for the giant made of sand to pull him away and walk in circles, hugging Anakin without hurting him.
…
“So what do you think of your younger body?” I asked, breaking the silence as Dooku adjusted his uniform to look as immaculate as always.
“It shows how far I had fallen from my peak. It is good to regain it.” He strode forward, ignited, and sliced through the various clones and Dug aliens that walked with their arms. Basically that alien that raced against Anakin in the pod race scene was his personal rival and bad guy.
Dooku handled the chaff with ease, showing not an ounce of mercy while I sent shadow balls flying, detonating on distant fuel reserve containers.
Fire and green gas erupted from them, raining the toxic fuel and chemicals upon those unfortunate enough to be around to try and guard it.
The clones coughed, lungs heaving as the gas and liquid toxins did their job. Some fell over holding their chests, falling face first into the deadly concoction, now unmoving, with a few others remaining standing by either willpower or adrenaline. I’d say both.
Two clones were slammed into one another face first, cracking their helmets and sending them toppling to the ground unconscious. Another aimed his blaster at my back only to have a nearly invisible wire wrap around it and his arms before with a flex and a squeeze of my hand made the clone bash his own rifle into his face.
Several other clones were in various states of pain, punching one another or themselves in painful spots. Like the one ramming his fist wrapped in silk threads into his groin.
Dooku looked at my handy work and gave me a less than impressed look. I just shrugged my shoulders without any shame.
“If we’re doing this, we may as well get some enjoyment out of it.” I stalked forward, casually running my hands along several major pipes that had the toxic fuel that was one of the biggest contributors to the Republic's fuel needs in the outer rim.
“Plus, you can’t say you don’t ever get enjoyment of showing your power upon those who defy you. Nothing quite like showing you don’t need to even use a weapon to take someone down.”
Dooku slowly nodded, accepting that line of reasoning. “That we can both agree on.”
A chorus of screams followed by the wavering hum of a lightsaber being thrown had us both turn in time to see Maul rounding the corner in a march that left bodies and limbs falling behind him.
He nodded respectfully towards me but ignored Dooku despite the Count glaring at Maul. “I have finished my business with Kenobi.” His hand casually caught the blade returning to him without even looking.
I gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “I’m proud of you, Maul. You have come a long way since we found you. You are your own man, not Sidious' tool. Take pride in that and let none take it from you.”
The ever-present gentleman specter that always loomed near Maul made his presence known. “Kenobi had better be in one piece or there will be consequences.”
His tone brokered no reasoning or argument. Maul merely looked in his general direction. “He is alive and intact. Be thankful I felt no need to exact vengeance upon another tool like yourself.”
Dooku bristled at the comment, but Maul turned and moved towards another facility I had given him his mission on. “And how did it go with your new move?”
Dooku paused, knowing what I referred to. It was Maul's attempt at copying or trying to recreate one of my shadow balls. Instead, I think he created one of the most terrifying Force powers to have ever existed. That thing, even with Byakugan and Sharigan, even Haki was an enigma.
All that I do know of what I could gather from it was that it was pure destruction. Anything it touched was outright annihilated. No trace of anything within the radius of it. Byakugan couldn’t even see any dust or microbes left over. The air itself was destroyed, creating a vacuum.
The only reason I am not afraid of Maul with this new power is because it takes an absurd amount of concentration and a lot out of him to use it. Even if the dark side isn’t destroying his body like it used to, it still takes a lot out of him, even if it isn’t entirely physical. Likely to be far more mental than it was spiritual.
Maul moved through a group of armored super battle droids, carving them apart and force pushing the rest over, making them look more like dominoes than armored death machines.
“It went quite well. It proved you were right. Kenobi didn’t defeat me, I defeated myself. Something that will not happen again.”
I nodded, pleased, before appearing around him, placing my hand on his shoulder. My other hand offered to Dooku.
“I recommend grabbing my hand. Unless you want to stay in this place when it gets blown to kingdom come.” Dooku may be capable of using the Force to sustain himself from the toxins getting released, but I highly doubt he could handle a massive explosion of this entire facility when he was right in the middle of ground zero.
He grabbed my hand, and the three of us were outside watching the best part. A snap of my fingers and the next thing the two knew, the entire place sent out a gargantuan shockwave that rippled the air itself, distorting it with a sickly green that rushed to meet the sky. Fire and smoke soon joined it, becoming a kaleidoscope of death and destruction.
Michael Bay had the right idea when it came to explosions. Not many, if anyone, can deny they love watching a massive explosion go off before their own two eyes. On a screen it is already amazing to watch. But to be standing before the miniature mushroom cloud forming and sending powerful waves of air that would have leveled houses with ease was an exquisite feeling.
It was something to behold, and no matter how powerful I got, I would still enjoy the sight of something like this.
“Ventress and Grievous both have managed on their ends.” Dooku remarked.
On one side of the horizon potentially the biggest group of droids there was, which was saying something was having a civil war between their fellow droids. Grievous had them setup in defensive positions using the distant forest as a means to force the enemy droids into bottlenecks and prevent them from surrounding his own.
Distant explosions showed he had explosives placed on some of his droids that the Republic's stolen droid army washed over, taking out scores of them. His forces and he were ransacking one of the refinery facilities near the edge of the forest on the planet that large swaths had been cleared out for the sole purpose of harvesting this fuel source.
Glancing over to a fuel depot with various pipes leading to it that were several miles in length, it just exploded. The size and force of the blast, despite being plenty of miles from it, made Dooku and Maul each use a Force barrier to protect themselves from what would have been enough to knock them over.
More toxic green fuel entered into the atmosphere and rained down as green sickly droplets into the soil. This place wasn’t going to be the same once we got through with it.
That was the one Ventress had infiltrated and set explosive charges at. She made quick work but was still slower than the rest of us. Even Grievous, despite not getting the task of destroying any key infrastructure, had arguably the more important job of keeping the vast majority of the enemy’s forces occupied.
It also served to get him to see any uses he could get out of the droids built with absurd levels of redundancies. Despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered, it wasn’t quite even yet, but with the upgrades to our base model droids, they were putting up a much better fight than most would expect.
I idly glanced to the side, seeing one of the bigger fuel depots. Between us, it was easily a minimum of several million droids. Most of whom were knocked over from the blast of the fuel supplies for the Republic's war machine going up in flames yet still mostly functioning.
“And what of that one?” Dooku asked, looking towards it.
My response was a lazy hand raised with the palm facing the droids and the tanks amongst their ranks shooting at us. None of them were even close to landing a shot yet. The air stilled for a brief moment, the prelude to a disaster not long after it.
The air then stirred, violently shoved back. The ground quaked and cracked, quivering every moment Almighty Push was present to caress it. A massive trench was formed in the blink of an eye, the air cracked from the force of it. Then the several million-strong droid force met it.
Metal was crushed, all the crunches were heard nearly at once, the entire massive group becoming one giant tidal wave of metal. Every rock or outcropping was blasted apart, the rock and dirt turned to nothing but pebbles and dust. The unseen, unrelenting force charged forth like a king commanding his army to wipe out everything he deemed an insult to all that exists.
Then it reached the fuel.
BoOoOm!
The best blast yet had come. The air rushed towards us, and even Maul and Dooku both now struggled to maintain their focus to keep the barriers up after witnessing such a casual display of power. What had seemed to be a god-like display of a simple Force Push that came off as casual was far from it.
That took at least a fourth of the energy I had to fuel my powers. By no means emptying the tank, but enough to make it noticeable to me. Yet the results spoke for themselves.
The broken and battered droids were the witnesses to my power, the crackle of the flames and loud booms from more explosions were the chorus singing to the heavens above. All of it made me happy knowing Sidious, despite getting a slight sucker punch, was about to get the biggest fight of his life.
And that wasn’t even the worst part. His life was about to become a living hell. The man deserved no less. Various signals went off across our communication channels, showing that the damage had been done.
“Time to leave. Our objective is complete.”
Not long after that I grabbed the commanders of our forces and kamui’d us onto the ships in space, and we quickly left the system with what was left of our ground forces hammering away at the Republic acting as a distraction.
The droid tanks fired their cannons and missiles salvos, droids marched or crawled onwards, all getting mowed down and blown to unrecognizable scraps and pieces.
The Republic droids took heavy losses, while the clones were forced to safer areas with the toxic debris raining like confetti from above, poisoning the sky, air, and even the ground. Nothing was safe from it.
Numerous Jedi commanders were missing, or those found severely injured. Countless droids and even clones had suffered massive losses, and the only ones that seemed to fare somewhat well were the fleet in orbit.
Just when everyone thought it was over, the ground rumbled as if coming alive. Those left over trying to evacuate and get control of the situation looked around in concern, thinking it was another of Tobi and the Separatists' tricks.
Then the ground where plenty of fuel had fallen cracked and broke apart, and from it arose a gargantuan creature crying out in anger and pain.
Anakin let out a tired, frustrated sigh. “Next time, we are going to get one over him and pay him back.”
Obi-Wan silently and grudgingly agreed with his former apprentice.
