Hero of Naboo Chapter 24 Preview

"Its not going well, is it?"

Dooku turned to a bothan named Beev Vono, starring at him with a grim expression. One matched by the rest of their companions. "No, my friends, I fear it is not. Some are dying, or dead, and Master Yoda is actively not holding back," he answered bluntly, frowning as he gazed up, trying and failing to see through the shadows of the Dark Side. Without the veil, they knew the Sith were there, but seeing more minute happenings with the Force was difficult, impossible for most. Only they, Jedi Masters could glimpse within it.

And Dooku wasn't sure this Sidious wasn't glimpsing back at them. Sidious, or perhaps the Dark Side itself.

"Should we join them?" the human Nat-Sem asked, watching the high opening the rest of the Jedi had scaled to and entered.

"Patience," Dooku cautioned. "Something is a miss."

"What do you mean?" Coleman asked, cocking his long head.

"I'm not sure. There is a great, troubling frustration from the Grandmaster. He is no longer engaging the Sith, it appears," Dooku explained. "He is not injured or defeated, but cannot fight."

"The trap was sprung," Sinube remarked sagely. "No, how to undo it?"

"And why are we waiting?" Beev asked again, some frustation leaking through.

"Just a feeling, Master Beev. Trust me for a moment longer," Dooku requested sternly.

No one dared to speak against Dooku's request, wondering just what the aging Master sensed-

"Someone is coming down," Celsha Krataley warned as three dots appeared to fly out of the opening, descending rapidly.

"I think you mean thrown!" Nat-Sem called out, seeing that the dots were in fact three bodies falling rapidly towards them.

Three Jedi bodies.

Without another word, all of them reached out and used the force to slow the descendant of the three, lowering them to the ground.

"By the force," Coleman remarked as he took in their injured states. "Are they-"

"I'm alive, you half-wit," Evan Piell answered with heavy breathing.

"Master Piell," Krataley said kneeling down to bring a hand to his small chest. Her eyes widen. "You-"

"I'll be fine," Piell snapped. "Worry about the other two."

"Piell, what's happening up there?" Dooku asked, kneeling down to the resting Jedi's level.

"The Sith was ready," Evan admitted with a grim look. "He knew he couldn't face all of us, so he did everything in his power to keep us divided and distracted, unable to focus on him entirely while his traps were in play."

"What about Master Yoda?" Dooku pressed with a furrowed brow.

"He and Windu had him on the run, but we failed to see the ultimate goal: he divided us. The Grandmaster and the Master of the Order are with about halfo f the masters, stuck a level below the fighting. They're suredly trying to find a way back up by now," he explained, taking a deep breath. "Luminara is dead. The other five may soon join her."

Dooku nodded solemnly. "Master Krataley, can you stablize them while we join the fight?"

"Force wlling, I will try," she answered, tending to Gallia. "But if there are more injured, I probably won't be able to grab them out of the air like that."

"What were they thinking?" Sinube asked to himself.

"Dooku," Evan Piell spoke up. "Listen to me. No matter what happens, someone must take this message back to the temple. Vader wasn't lying. The identity of the Sith Lord...is Senator Palpatine."

Dooku's expression darkened at that confirmation. "So, we need someone to return to the temple, just in case this Sith has some...insurance that we don't leave this place alive."

"But who?" Nat-Sem asked, letting the real question hang in the air.

Which of them, if any, would be the least to contribute in this coming battle? This already meant it would be four Jedi joining instead of five. They had to make a sound dceciison, and quick or-

"Perhaps I can help with that?"

Dooku turned to face the new voice.....