( 29 BBY )
The fleet departed from Serenno, making good time to the first rally point at the edge of the Belsmuth sector. Dooku and his five ships waited in an out of the way, binary star system with no traces of life but for a lonely probe someone fired into orbit around it centuries ago. He arrived early, worried that if he wasn't there before the Mandalorian mercenaries arrived they might start fighting each other.
The moment the first Mandalorian clan jumped into the system Dooku had his communications officer send them a friendly greeting along with an invite to share some drinks.
First to arrive was Al'verde Cizda, who was shorter than Dooku expected, to the point where one of his helmeted bodyguards was a full head taller than him. But he had a steely gaze and a way of moving that made it clear he was well used to command. He was naturally dark-skinned, but his time in full body armour had left him a shade paler than looked healthy.
The room Dooku had set aside for them to meet in wasn't very large at all, just the Rider's small mess hall, but cleared of anyone else who might have used it.
"A Jedi in armour." Al'verde noted with obvious approval. "It's good that you're taking this seriously."
"Someone has to." Dooku laughed, as though it were a joke.
A servant came over, bringing a bottle of strong spirits distilled from razorgrain. Normally Dooku would sip wine at diplomatic events, and it was his preferred drink in private, but here something so subtly tasteful wouldn't be respected. The razorgrain whiskey was from his father's private collection, Gora had had a great fondness for the stuff. The brand Dooku chose was Bourke'Dura, translating to Standard as, 'Of the Open Plains'. He didn't know much about spirits, but it fetched a good price offworld, so Dooku assumed it had a strong reputation.
Al'verde sniffed the fluid, and obviously relished it when he took a sip. "So, we will make plans now."
"Once the rest of our fleet arrives, yes." Dooku answered. "Caisa Krutt has yet to arrive."
When she did arrive, Krutt came with more bodyguards than Al'verde did. She searched the room constantly with her eyes, beskar steel helmet under her arm, and when she was offered her glass of whiskey, she hesitated before drinking. Dooku could feel her suppressing the desire to call for a poison taster. Despite being only in her thirties, her hair was already completely grey.
"The plan is quite simple." He explained, once Krutt was somewhat more relaxed. "A force of twenty ships, led by my former Padwan, Jedi Knight Asajj Ventress, will approach Phindar from the Perlemian, while we will attack from the Hydian. We've chosen this system and another like it on the other side of Phindar, because when we launch the attack we should both arrive within mere minutes of each other."
"What happens if the enemy intercepts the signal?" Krutt asked.
"The signal will be sent by Asajj through the Force." Dooku answered. "So no chance for electronic interference. Even if they have a Force user among them, the sign Asajj sends will be so general and simple that it most likely won't be interpreted as anything of note."
Neither of them seemed to understand exactly what he meant when discussing the Force, but both of them accepted his expertise.
"So we're just waiting for Asajj to send her signal?" Al'verde asked. "When will that be?"
"Likely a few hours. Some of her forces will have a much greater distance to travel than others."
"Time then for us to speak." Al'verde smirked, looking from Dooku's face, to the helmet sitting on the table beside him. "You Jedi are behaving strangely these days. I heard your Temple was working for Coruscant, and now I hear they exiled you, gave you the long run around on the Great Mouth."
Dooku kept the confident smirk on his face, not falling for the bait. "It's a Temple matter." He explained. "What's important is that I'm now free to act without constraint."
"Which is why we're conquering Phindar." Al'verde drained his decanter in a single gulp, then offered it to Dooku's servant for a refill. "My forebears took contracts for you Jedi, back in the last Golden Age."
"Don't you know, Al'verde?" Krutt spoke up. "Jedi call that one the Dark Age."
"Is that a fact?" Al'verde feigned ignorance. "It's a shame not everyone enjoyed it."
"Yes, a shame." Dooku said, and let the pause linger. Did the mandalorian have something in particular he was angling towards?
"I was surprised when Duchess Satine recommended me to you." Al'verde said. "You being such a notorious autocrat and all. Our Duchess, she's a real fan of democracy. Not much of a fan of us." He indicated Krutt, who scowled. He ignored her reaction and continued, "Such a fan of democracy that she's never held an election since taking office. She loves Democracy like a beautiful family heirloom, keeps it locked away, so none of us can put our filthy hands on it."
"I see." Said Dooku, considering the two of them. "And yet she considers the both of you among her supporters?"
Krutt let out a short, bitter laugh. "Well, I'll take a contract from her, but I'm not willing to go to war for her democracy. The strongest should rule, I say, but she acts like such a weakling."
"Look, she won the civil war." Al'verde added, genially. "Fair's fair, but she's going around in her fancy dresses, painted up like some core world whore-princess." He scowled, unhappily. "It's humiliating."
"Not just humiliating." Krutt frowned. "It puts us in danger by making us all look weak."
"If she could just get her damn pacifists under control." Al'verde shook his head. "They want to be cowards, more glory for us. But no, they won't even have a defence fleet. Now a bunch of two bit scum like the Black Sun think they can raid us, and she's not even here to deal with it. Instead, someone else has to hire us."
"A monarch's first shield is his reputation." Dooku said, slowly, swirling his glass thoughtfully. He watched from the corners of his eyes as they both turned to face him. "Before his army even sets foot on the transport, his enemies should be afraid to provoke him. Intimidation is how a monarch keeps his people safe."
He didn't say so, but in his mind Al'verde agreed, eying up the Count thoughtfully.
"Well, today we will do much to establish our reputations." Dooku promised them. "And soon, no one would dare to strike at us."
Finally, after another few hours of babysitting the mercenaries, Dooku received a call in the Force from Asajj. She had arrived at her rally point. Before they had set out, they'd both selected uninhabited star systems on the Salin Corridor that were almost the same distance from Phindar. If they both traveled at a pre-arranged hyperdrive speed, and both set out at the same time, they should arrive mere minutes apart from each other.
Dooku hoped that if nothing else, Asajj would have an easier time coordinating with Duke Harrad than he had with the Mandalorians. The Duke of Raxus was eager to bring the hammer down on the fools that had humiliated him. Though the man had his own sense of pride, he wasn't nearly as touchy as the Mandalorians, and more than willing to admit that he was no expert in military matters.
Though communicating through the Force across the Galaxy was quite difficult, at least the most vague impressions were possible, such as affirmative or negative. The systems they had chosen had no holocom relays, making calls into and out of them impossible, but it also meant they should be untraceable as well.
If all went well, the enemy would have no knowledge about the fleets that were coming until they appeared suddenly in battle formation. Dooku sent word to his astrogators to prepare for a Hyper Jump. Once he had word from them that they were ready to go, he sent an affirmative signal to Asajj, and she immediately responded in kind.
"Now." Dooku ordered, and his combined forces jumped together.
Doom was coming for the Black Sun.
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