by Cavan Scott
Dooku runs the Abyssin through.
ABYSSIN:
(SCREAMS AND DIES)
JENZA:
Dooku! Help us! Something’s happened to your friend!
Dooku runs over.
DOOKU:
Sifo?
SIFO-DYAS:
Dooku. I heard them. I heard the voices. What have you done?
DOOKU:
Nothing…But you’ll never believe what we’ve discovered…
There’s an explosion in the distance.
JENZA:
What was that?
HAGI:
We’ve taken the Abyssin control tower. They’re retreating.
JENZA:
It’s over.
SIFO-DYAS:
No. It’s just beginning.
DOOKU:
What’s that?
JENZA: (NARRATION)
Assault craft had appeared on the horizon, powering toward us. And above them…
SERGEANT ESON:
That’s the Windrunner.
HAGI:
Count Ramil?
JENZA:
He must be joining the fight.
DOOKU:
Then why are their guns trained on us?
SIFO-DYAS:
Dooku…
DOOKU:
I know, old friend. I can sense it, too.
JENZA:
Sense what?
DOOKU:
Betrayal.
JENZA: (NARRATION)
The assault tanks ground to a halt, ramps swinging down to deploy dozens of security droids, marching in unison.
DOOKU:
That’s an attack formation.
JENZA:
It can’t be.
DROID COMMANDER:
All units. Take aim.
BATTLE DROIDS IN UNISON:
Confirmed.
They raise their guns.
HAGI:
What are they doing?
JENZA: (NARRATION)
In answer, an all-too-familiar voice boomed out from the Windrunner…
RAMIL: (AMPLIFIED)
People of Serenno. This is your count speaking. Lay down your weapons. The insurrection is at an end.
JENZA:
(DESPAIRING) Ramil. No.
SERGEANT ESON:
Insurrection? What’s he talking about?
DOOKU:
You.
HAGI:
Us? But we were fighting for freedom.
SIFO-DYAS:
That’s not how it will be written.
DOOKU:
Sifo?
SIFO-DYAS:
Help me up. We can’t let him take control.
Dooku helps Sifo to his feet.
DOOKU:
We won’t.
JENZA:
Then what shall we do?
JENZA: (NARRATION)
Dooku looked at me sadly and then threw his lightsaber onto the floor in front of the droids.
DOOKU:
We surrender.
SIFO-DYAS:
We what?
DOOKU:
We surrender!
JENZA: (NARRATION)
We watched, mouths agape, as Dooku walked calmly toward the droids, his head held high.
DOOKU:
Signal my brother. Tell him I am here. He will want to see me.
SIFO-DYAS:
You’re giving up?
JENZA: (NARRATION)
He turned and smiled at his friend.
DOOKU:
I was at the Senate when the possibility of a droid army was debated. Units such as these are controlled by a central processor.
SIFO-DYAS:
Which you think is on that ship!
DOOKU:
There’s only one way to find out.
DROID COMMANDER:
The count has signaled. A hoverpod is being sent to fetch the Jedi.
DOOKU:
How gracious of him.
SCENE 125. EXT. THE WINDRUNNER.
JENZA: (NARRATION)
We were forced to kneel in the dirt as Dooku was led into the pod. It rose into the air, Dooku standing motionless, hands clasped behind his back. I watched him ascend, fearing the worst as he stepped onto the Windrunner…
Dooku walks onto the wooden deck, accompanied by the droids. We can hear Ramil’s labored breathing and, when he moves, the clank of his exosuit.
DOOKU:
Ramil.
RAMIL:
Dooku.
DOOKU:
Cenevax really made a mess of you, didn’t she? Please tell me you haven’t stamped that face on any coins.
RAMIL:
Guards.
Energy lances through Dooku’s body.
DOOKU:
(SCREAMS OUT)
RAMIL:
That’s enough.
SECURITY DROIDS:
Confirmed.
The shocks stop, Dooku gasping for breath.
RAMIL:
That’s better. On your knees. Where you belong.
DOOKU:
(PAINED) Spoken like a true monster.
RAMIL:
I’m a survivor.
DOOKU:
I’d like to see you survive out of that exosuit.
RAMIL:
Don’t you get it, brother? This is the way it was supposed to be.
DOOKU:
With you in a walking med-splint?
RAMIL:
With me in charge. Not Father. And definitely not you.
DOOKU:
I have no interest in ruling anyone.
RAMIL:
Tell that to Jenza. The years I’ve had to listen to her bleating on about you, the brave Jedi. “Why can’t you be more like him, Ramil? Why can’t he be the heir?” Even after you desecrated Mother’s casket. If only she could see you now. I would show her, if it wasn’t already too late.
DOOKU:
What do you mean?
The exosuit clanks as Ramil stomps to the edge of the deck.
RAMIL:
Look at them all down there. Ha. Is that Hagi? Her father was the worst. So quick to call in mercenaries to protect him, just like the rest. But do you know the trouble with mercenaries, Dooku?
DOOKU:
They can be bought by whoever has the deepest pockets.
RAMIL:
And Father said I didn’t know what I was doing when I let the pirates in.
DOOKU:
It was you. You orchestrated the entire thing.
RAMIL:
You were the one who told me to sort out Serenno. You said it was my responsibility.
DOOKU:
I didn’t mean like this.
RAMIL:
But it’s so much better this way. Serenno will be stronger than ever before. No more houses. No more infighting. No more Republic. The people will welcome me with open arms, especially when I reveal the sad news that their beloved Jenza has been killed. By a Jedi no less.
DOOKU:
What?
RAMIL:
Activate the holoscreen.
SECURITY DROID:
Confirmed.
A screen appears. We can hear the thrum of a lightsaber over the transmission.
DOOKU:
No!
RAMIL:
Your own lightsaber at her throat. It has a certain poetic charm, doesn’t
it? Ramil to surface commander. Are you ready to execute her?
DROID COMMANDER: (OVER COMM)
At your command, Your Grace.
DOOKU:
You can’t!
RAMIL:
Haven’t you worked it out yet? I can do anything I want. Hit him again.
SECURITY DROID:
Acknowledged.
More electricity surges into Dooku.
DOOKU:
(CRYING OUT) She is our sister!
The torment continues, Ramil pitching up his voice to be heard over the arcing electricity.
RAMIL:
And you’re about to kill her.
DOOKU:
(PAINED) Don’t do this.
RAMIL:
What did you expect? To summon your fancy little sword all the way up here and strike me down? You still don’t get it, do you? For all your airs and graces, for all your magic tricks, you’re the one who is writhing around the floor at the end of a shock-staff, not me.
You’re pathetic.
DOOKU:
(PAINED, QUIET) No.
RAMIL:
What was that?
DOOKU:
I said no. (GETTING STRONGER AS HE PERFORMS THE RITUAL HE TAUGHT QUI-GON) I am Jedi.
RAMIL:
Increase the voltage!
The shocks intensify, as does Dooku’s resolve.
DOOKU:
I am Jedi! And I am not alone!
The action moves back down to the ground…
JENZA: (NARRATION)
Below, on the ground, Dooku’s blade buzzed in my ear, while Sifo-Dyas writhed on the ground beside me, his mind aflame…
SIFO-DYAS:
It is now. Coming into focus. The future.
And then, belowground, the Tirra’Taka howling.
JENZA: (NARRATION)
And beneath our feet, Lene struggled to hold Dooku’s beast in place.
LENE:
No. You must remain calm.
JENZA: (NARRATION)
For that was exactly what it had become. One mind.
LENE:
(HORRIFIED) No.
JENZA: (NARRATION)
Two bodies.
LENE:
Dooku! Don’t!
The Tirra’Taka roars, louder than ever.
JENZA: (NARRATION)
On the Windrunner, Ramil staggered over to the side of the ship, his exoframe hissing with the effort. His mouth dropped open as the creature’s howl echoed from the depths of the planet.
RAMIL:
What is that?
DOOKU:
Our past. And your future.
Deep below, the Tirra’Taka erupts into the air, bellowing.
JENZA: (NARRATION)
The creature burst from the shattered ground, scaled wings blocking out the sun. Sifo-Dyas laughed as he saw it, his sanity fracturing forever, as the droids looked up in confusion.
But I knew what it was, a legend made terrifying flesh.
Our savior.
I sprang up, barging into the droid that held Dooku’s lightsaber, knocking it back.
JENZA:
(SHOUTING) Attack them! Now!
JENZA: (NARRATION)
The refugees snatched up the weapons we had stolen from the fleeing Abyssin, blasting the droids before they could regroup.
We hear the sounds of battle, and the roar of the monster.
SECURITY DROID:
Attack the creature! Attack the—
Force lightning swamps the droid before it can finish its sentence.
JENZA:
Energy burst from the Tirra’Taka’s maw, washing over the security droids. The monster swept down, snatching the melting droids from the ground, crushing their bodies between its hooked talons like magella nuts.
A figure clung to its serpentine tail, fingers curled around obsidian scales. She jumped when she saw Sifo-Dyas curled in a ball in the dirt.
Lene lands on her feet, grunting from the pain.
JENZA:
Master Kostana. You are hurt.
LENE:
It’s not me I’m worried about. Sifo-Dyas.
She rolls him over.
LENE:
Sifo-Dyas. I need you. It’s Dooku. He’s taken over the beast. He’s controlling it.
JENZA:
He is?
SIFO-DYAS:
Doo-ku. Doo-ku. Doo-ku.
LENE:
Sifo-Dyas, please. We need to break his hold, before it’s too late. He’s not protected. The dark side will consume him.
SCENE 126. EXT. THE WINDRUNNER. DECK.
JENZA: (NARRATION)
I didn’t understand her then, but I do now. After the battle was won, I accessed the Windrunner’s security feeds and saw what had happened with my own eyes. Dooku twisting, grabbing the shock-staff that had been thrust in his back.
DOOKU:
(ROARS IN FURY)
JENZA: (NARRATION)
His scream echoing the beast he controlled, he unleashed the dark fire he had buried for so long, the same energy that streamed from the Tirra’Taka’s mouth. Lightning flowed up the weapon, frying Ramil’s security droid to leap from metal body to body. The deck of the airship was ablaze with energy, surging through Ramil’s exosuit, the droid’s central processor erupting like a supernova.
The processor explodes.
JENZA: (NARRATION)
Ramil convulsed, gripping onto the rail to stop himself from tumbling over the edge, as below his droid army collapsed as one. His mechanical joints frozen, the Count of Serenno stared in disbelief as a curved hilt flew straight toward the Windrunner, turning end-to-end as it returned to its master.
Dooku’s lightsaber slaps into Dooku’s open palm.
RAMIL:
I cannot move.
The lightsaber ignites.
RAMIL:
Brother. Please…
JENZA: (NARRATION)
The lightning was gone, but Dooku’s fury remained.
DOOKU:
I have no brother.
RAMIL:
Have mercy.
DOOKU:
For Serenno!
Dooku slices Ramil in two.
RAMIL:
(SCREAMS)
SCENE 127. EXT. THE BATTLEFIELD.
JENZA: (NARRATION)
I couldn’t hear Ramil’s scream over the cry of the Tirra’Taka. Lene was standing between us and the beast, staring into its coal-black eyes, a shaking arm raised as if in greeting.
The monster roars.
JENZA:
(PANICKED) What are we going to do?
LENE:
There is little we can do now.
HAGI:
We could run!
LENE:
It would cut us down in an instant.
JENZA:
But you said my brother is controlling that thing.
LENE:
He was.
JENZA:
Then it won’t hurt us. He won’t hurt us.
LENE:
He may not have a choice.
JENZA:
What’s that supposed to mean?
The monster growls.
HAGI:
It’s going to pounce!
LENE:
Dooku. Hear me. Hear me, for all our sakes.
SCENE 128. EXT. THE WINDRUNNER. DECK.
DOOKU:
Lene.
JENZA: (NARRATION)
Dooku told
me it was like coming out of a trance. He looked over the side of the Windrunner to see the creature stalk toward us, broken droids crunching beneath its feet.
DOOKU:
No. Do not do this. Hear me!
JENZA: (NARRATION)
But the monster wouldn’t listen. Not anymore.
DOOKU:
Our minds as one. Let me back in.
The creature bellows far below.
DOOKU:
(REALIZING WHAT HE’S DONE) No. It is too late. I…I never meant to hurt you. Not like the others. Never meant to bend you to my will. I’m…I’m sorry. So, so sorry.
JENZA: (NARRATOR)
And with that, Dooku threw himself from the ship…
SCENE 129. EXT. THE BATTLEFIELD.
The Tirra’Taka continues to growl, ready to pounce.
LENE:
Everyone get ready to run.
HAGI:
I thought you said we wouldn’t get away in time!
LENE:
Do you want to die?
JENZA:
What about you?
LENE:
I will hold it back as much as I can.
HAGI:
You’ll be immolated.
LENE:
Jedi have lived through worse.
HAGI:
Than being burned alive?
LENE:
Someone take Sifo-Dyas. Look after him.
HAGI:
This is madness!
LENE:
Please.
JENZA:
We will.
LENE:
Get ready. On my mark.
JENZA: (NARRATION)
Something, I don’t know what, a sixth sense, maybe even that mystical Force you all talk about, made me look up. I tried to speak, to cry out, but the words died in my throat. A figure was plummeting from the Windrunner, somehow guided down in an arc. His lightsaber was held above his head, the hilt gripped by both hands, the glowing blade pointed down like a needle.
JENZA:
(QUIETLY) Dooku.
JENZA: (NARRATION)
His teeth were bared, body taut, ready to strike.
The Tirra’Taka bellows.
JENZA: (NARRATION)
The creature’s maw opened, dark fire swirling like a whirlpool in its throat.
LENE:
Go! Now!
JENZA: (NARRATION)
Hagi and the others ran as Kostana braced herself, but I couldn’t move. I was rooted to the spot, my eyes locked on my brother.
The Tirra’Taka prepares to unleash its lightning breath as Dooku dives toward it, letting out a bestial roar of his own. The monster begins to scream lightning when, at the culmination of his own cry, Dooku lands on the creature’s head, driving his lightsaber down into the monster’s brain.