by Cavan Scott
SIFO-DYAS:
Asusto, a heavily forested planetoid in the Tamsis Nebula.
DOOKU:
Sentient life?
SIFO-DYAS:
Not that we know of.
LENE:
Although it’s a regular haunt of smugglers and weaponrunners.
DOOKU:
The disorder along the Hydian Way?
LENE:
Possibly, although the Council’s concerns run deeper. As we just saw, tempers are running high in the Outer Rim.
SIFO-DYAS:
The Trade Federation has worked hard to attract prospectors…
DOOKU:
I’ve seen the posters. A brave new frontier.
SIFO-DYAS:
But what the posters don’t tell you about is the growth in organized crime.
LENE:
Growth that neither the Republic nor the Jedi can handle.
DOOKU:
So you’re here to stop it?
SIFO-DYAS:
Yes.
DOOKU:
But that’s not all, is it? You’re keeping something from me. I can sense it.
LENE:
It isn’t the only reason we’re here. As you know, the Council and I don’t always see eye-to-eye.
SIFO-DYAS:
On anything.
LENE:
But the one thing they know all too well is that the galaxy is littered with relics of the Sith Empire.
DOOKU:
I thought you’d never found any.
LENE:
You’ve seen the Bogan Collection.
SIFO-DYAS:
It’s doubled in size since we broke in, Dooku.
LENE:
Something is coming. Something dangerous. The last few years have seen an explosion of artifacts being sold on the black market.
SIFO-DYAS:
Most are fakes.
LENE:
And the rest are worthless. But all it would take is one genuine artifact falling into the wrong hands…
DOOKU:
So you’re trying to find them first. So they can be studied.
LENE:
Unfortunately the Council isn’t that progressive. They’re locked away.
SIFO-DYAS:
Where even young troublemakers can’t find them.
LENE:
I still think it’s a mistake, but one battle at a time, eh?
DOOKU:
And you think there are relics here? On Asusto?
LENE:
We infiltrated a smuggler ring on Karazak. They had no idea what they were dealing with.
SIFO-DYAS:
We’ve been following their supply routes. Many converge here, on this planet.
LENE:
Can you feel it, Dooku? The dark side?
DOOKU:
Yes. Stronger than ever before.
LENE:
The entire planet is drenched in it.
SIFO-DYAS:
Must be why so much trash is drawn here.
LENE:
Like stink-flies to bantha fodder.
DOOKU:
Do you know what we’re looking for?
LENE:
“We”?
DOOKU:
I’m not just along for the ride.
LENE:
Glad to hear it. And no, not yet. But we’ll know when it finds us.
SCENE 64. EXT. ASUSTO.
Atmosphere: A full-on horror soundscape. Wind moaning through twisted trees. Weird insects chirping. The sudden cry of alien birds. And above it all, the slow, omnipresent creeping of living moss over everything. Trees. Rocks. The floors. The atmosphere should be claustrophobic, especially as they move farther into the forest.
We focus on this soundscape for a few seconds until the Truthseeker swoops in and lands, the landing gear deploying and ramp lowering.
The three Jedi descend.
DOOKU:
Are you sure there’s no sentient life?
SIFO-DYAS:
You feel it, too.
Lene steps off the ramp into the spongy moss.
LENE:
I think it’s all this.
The others follow, the substance squelching beneath their boots.
SIFO-DYAS:
Some kind of moss.
DOOKU:
It’s…moving.
LENE:
I certainly wouldn’t stand still for too long.
SIFO-DYAS:
You’re not kidding. It’s already halfway up the landing rig.
LENE:
Close the ramp.
SIFO-DYAS:
Yes, Master.
He presses a control on his sleeve. The ramp rises and locks shut.
DOOKU:
So where do we start?
LENE:
We close our eyes.
DOOKU:
We do what?
LENE:
Think back to your training, Dooku. Why do we use blast visors?
DOOKU:
To focus on what we feel.
LENE:
Rather than what we see.
DOOKU:
(UNSURE) Okay. Eyes closed, it is.
LENE:
Now reach out with your emotions. But this time, open your mind to everything, not just the light. Remember how you felt on Mantero.
DOOKU:
What?
LENE:
The anger you felt. The betrayal. Remember how your sister looked at you. Remember her fear.
DOOKU:
No. We shouldn’t.
SIFO-DYAS:
We’re not in the Temple now, Dooku.
LENE:
Like stink-flies, remember? Like calls to like.
DOOKU:
But anger and fear—
SIFO-DYAS:
Will find what we’re looking for.
LENE:
You don’t have to embrace the dark side, Dooku, but you need to know it’s there.
SIFO-DYAS:
I see it, Master. A path through the wood.
LENE:
Then lead the way.
Sifo-Dyas heads farther into the spooky wood, the moss crunching and squelching beneath his feet.
LENE:
Are you coming, Dooku?
DOOKU:
I…I do not know.
LENE:
Are you scared?
DOOKU:
(HESITATING) Yes.
LENE:
Good. Then you’ll probably come out of this alive.
SCENE 65. EXT. THE ASUSTO FOREST.
The soundscape has become even more claustrophobic and intense. The Jedi continue creeping cautiously through the woods.
DOOKU:
Lene?
LENE:
I’m still here. Keep focused.
Something sweeps past Dooku, a whooshing intangible sound.
DOOKU:
What was that?
LENE:
Your mind is playing tricks on you. It is the dark side, trying to take hold.
GHOSTLY VOICE:
Dooku.
DOOKU:
Did you hear that?
GHOSTLY VOICE: (YODA)
Dooku.
DOOKU:
Master Yoda?
LENE:
No. He’s tucked up safely on Coruscant. The voices aren’t real.
&n
bsp; DOOKU:
You can hear them?
LENE:
Not necessarily the same ones. We all have our demons to face.
GHOSTLY VOICE: (VENTRESS)
Master.
GHOSTLY VOICE: (ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD JENZA)
Brother.
GHOSTLY VOICE: (SIDIOUS)
Apprentice.
DOOKU:
I-I can’t do this.
SIFO-DYAS:
You can, Dooku. I know you can.
GHOSTLY VOICE: (OBI-WAN)
Traitor.
GHOSTLY VOICE: (ARATH)
Idiot.
GHOSTLY VOICE: (MOTHER TALZIN)
Count.
SIFO-DYAS:
(URGENT) Wait.
DOOKU:
What is it?
SIFO-DYAS:
We’re not alone.
DOOKU:
But Lene said they weren’t real.
SIFO-DYAS:
Not the voices. Can’t you feel it? A presence.
DOOKU:
Yes. They don’t belong here.
LENE:
None of us do.
SCENE 66. EXT. THE ASUSTO FOREST. NEARBY CLEARING.
Two Abyssin gunrunners—Lyo and Creethe—are unloading crates from a shuttle, while a third cyclops messes around with a comm unit, the device cycling through different frequencies with bursts of static and white noise.
DOOKU: (NARRATION)
We crept on, finding a freighter cooling its engines in a clearing. White-whiskered aliens were unloading crates from the back of the craft, each with a single eye set deep in a cadaverous face.
The three Jedi whisper.
LENE:
Abyssin.
DOOKU:
Your smugglers?
DOOKU: (NARRATION)
There was no way for Lene to know, although it was obvious that the thugs were waiting for a buyer. As we watched, one of the Abyssin activated a wrist-com, informing their contact that the samples had been unloaded. It turned out they weren’t smuggling dark side artifacts, but weapons almost as deadly…
SIFO-DYAS:
Nerve disruptors?
LENE:
Illegal in every civilized system.
DOOKU: (NARRATION)
Lene swore. If artifact hunters were plundering Asusto, the last thing she needed was for the Abyssin to get in the way. She needed to act, and I was only too happy to oblige.
DOOKU:
I’ll deal with them.
SIFO-DYAS:
No. Dooku. Wait.
DOOKU: (NARRATION)
I burst through the foliage, my lightsaber flashing. The Abyssin drew their pulse-blasters, but I was too fast for them, slicing through first barrels and then limbs. But then…I couldn’t stop. I don’t know what it was, my shame over what had happened on Mantero or the dark side amplifying my fury as kyber focuses plasma. By the time my companions reached the clearing, the Abyssin were dead. I’ve read that the lumbering aliens can regenerate limbs, but there was no coming back from these injuries.
Cautiously, Lene ignited her own lightsaber, as if wary of me…
LENE:
Dooku. It’s over. They’re done.
DOOKU:
No. Their evil remains.
DOOKU: (NARRATION)
I turned, slicing down the piled crates, cleaving the nerve disruptors in two.
We hear Dooku breathe hard for a few moments before extinguishing his lightsaber.
SIFO-DYAS:
You feeling better now?
DOOKU:
No. Not while scum like this still exists. This is what we should be doing, Sifo. Not meditating, safe within Temple walls. We should be out here, restoring balance by whatever means possible.
LENE:
(WARNING) Dooku.
DOOKU: (NARRATION)
It was as though she feared I would turn my ire upon her. Perhaps I would have, blinded by emotions I could barely control, emotions she had stirred by bringing me to Asusto. But I couldn’t have moved if I’d wanted to. None of us could. The moss Sifo-Dyas had first noticed had been slowly creeping into the glade, smothering the Abyssin’s corpses, rolling over our boots…
SIFO-DYAS:
Master! I can’t pull free.
LENE:
Don’t struggle.
SIFO-DYAS:
It’s dragging me down.
Dooku swipes his lightsaber around to no avail.
DOOKU:
Burn it off.
LENE:
Dooku, no!
DOOKU: (NARRATION)
I sank my blade into the writhing morass.
DOOKU:
Burn it clear!
DOOKU: (NARRATION)
I could barely hear Lene screaming at me to stop, couldn’t even hear the squelch of the moss as it traveled up my legs and over my back, drawing me into a cocoon.
My head was ablaze with voices, ghosts of the past and echoes of the future.
The ghostly voices assault him again, repeating, overlapping, becoming a cacophony.
GHOSTLY VOICE: (JENZA)
Brother.
GHOSTLY VOICE: (YODA)
Padawan.
GHOSTLY VOICE: (ARATH)
Idiot.
GHOSTLY VOICE: (ANYA)
Son.
GHOSTLY VOICE: (GORA)
Freak.
GHOSTLY VOICE: (SAVAGE)
Master.
DOOKU:
(STRAINED) Stop them!
LENE:
(PAINED) Padawans…this is an illusion…the dark side…
DOOKU:
You can hear them, too?
SIFO-DYAS:
The Force is with me. The Force is with me. (SIFO-DYAS REPEATS THIS OVER AND OVER AS A MANTRA, ADDING TO THE CACOPHONY.)
DOOKU:
Lene. I can’t block them out. Help me.
OVERLAPPING GHOSTLY VOICE: (JENZA)
Help him.
OVERLAPPING GHOSTLY VOICE: (YODA)
Help him.
OVERLAPPING GHOSTLY VOICE: (ARATH)
Help him.
OVERLAPPING GHOSTLY VOICE: (ANYA)
Help him.
OVERLAPPING GHOSTLY VOICE: (GORA)
Help him.
OVERLAPPING GHOSTLY VOICE: (SIDIOUS)
Help yourself.
DOOKU:
Lene! I can’t block them out.
DOOKU: (NARRATION)
But Lene was gone, consumed by the moss. Sifo-Dyas, too, was swallowed up, the moss pouring into his eyes, into his mouth. My lightsaber was sucked from my hands, the lichen numbing my skin. I thrashed and twisted, trying to free myself, but there was no escape…
OVERLAPPING GHOSTLY VOICE: (JENZA)
No escape.
OVERLAPPING GHOSTLY VOICE: (ARATH)
No escape.
OVERLAPPING GHOSTLY VOICE: (YODA)
Escape.
OVERLAPPING GHOSTLY VOICE: (GORA)
No escape.
DOOKU:
(CHOKING) Help me. Somebody, please. Help—(GAGS AS HE’S SMOTHERED)
The moss squelches.
DOOKU: (NARRATION)
I couldn’t see. I couldn’t hear. I couldn’t even breathe. I was completely cocooned, consciousness slipping away…
We hear Dooku’s beating heart in a deadened soundscape.
SCENE 67. INT. CAVERN. ASUSTO.
DOOKU:
(GASPS VIOLENTLY AS HE WAKES)
Atmosph
ere: We’re in a cold cave. Water drips. We’re high, near the stalactites. A ritual is being performed below, the constant drone of a song being sung in an alien tongue. We can hear the crackle of blazing torches.
DOOKU: (NARRATION)
I woke in a vast cavern, slick walls illuminated by flickering flame. I was suspended from on high by the same clinging moss that had overcome us.
Sifo-Dyas and Kostana hung lifelessly beside me. I had no idea if they were alive or dead, my senses overwhelmed by the pungent incense drifting up from the chamber below…
DOOKU:
(HISSING) Sifo…Lene…
PRIESTESS: (FROM BELOW)
Ah—tt-tt-tt—the conduit wakes.
The priestess, a human-sized insectoid alien, flies up to Dooku, her wings buzzing. The priestess’s mandibles clack together when she talks. She adds little insectoid ticks into her speech pattern, indicated by tt in the dialogue.
Dooku struggles against the moss.
DOOKU:
Conduit? What are you talking about? Who are you?
PRIESTESS:
Do not struggle—tt-tt-tt—the moss holds you tight. You will only injure yourself.
DOOKU:
My lightsaber.
PRIESTESS:
You have been disarmed—tt-tt-tt—nothing must disrupt the ritual.
DOOKU:
You haven’t answered my question. Who are you?
LENE:
(GROGGILY) The Presagers of Hakotei.
DOOKU:
Lene.
The priestess flits over to Lene.
PRIESTESS:
You have heard of us, Master Jedi.
LENE:
I thought you were extinct.
PRIESTESS:
We survive—tt-tt-tt—hidden from the universe. The last coven.
LENE:
You must be very proud.
PRIESTESS:
It was foretold. As was your coming.
DOOKU:
The relics came from you?
PRIESTESS:
You followed the trail.
DOOKU:
And fell into your trap.
LENE:
It was all a lure.
PRIESTESS:
The sacrifice was required.
SIFO-DYAS:
(GROGGILY) Why don’t I like the sound of that?
DOOKU:
Sifo.
SIFO-DYAS:
Is this as bad as it looks?
LENE:
The Presagers were obsessed with prophecy. They sacrificed millions to be rewarded by visions of the future.
SIFO-DYAS:
Death magic.
DOOKU: