Star Wars: The Spear Of Hope

Chapter 1: Planning

CISS Eternity, Unknown Location, 2 Days Later

Count Dooku, President of the CIS and former Jedi Master, watched the holotank that dominated the room. On it was a map showing not just the live positions of all 50 Confederate Fleets, but also the relative positions of the 20 Republic Sector Fleets in accordance with the latest intel. His mind momentarily returned to those final days as a Jedi Master before he left the Order, when Palpatine had reached out to him to try to convert him to the Dark Side. Being 12 years younger back then, he'd vehemently and loudly told him where to stuff it. He'd tried to report the Sith to the Council, but they were already too blind to believe him. Must've had something to do with the ancient Dark Side Nexus deep below the Temple, which most Masters rarely left, but Dooku couldn't think of anything except copious amounts of explosives and Force Null Field Generators based on the Ysalamiri that could destroy it.

It had been shortly after he learned about the death of his brother, his sister in law, all 12 of their children and in-laws, and most of their grandchildren. Only one had survived. He wasn't proud of what he'd done in the immediate aftermath, of hunting down the Khaleesh Warlord Qymaen jai Sheelal, the one who had actually done it, and cutting him to pieces. He didn't learn that it had been on the orders of Darth Sidious until later.

He'd used the shame of that act as an excuse for his resignation, and lured Palpatine into a trap. Despite the efforts of himself and one of his few friends, it'd failed. They barely escaped, but his friend died in the process. He'd buried him and then went to find his only surviving relative. The two had had a rough relationship at first, largely due to his own psyche and behaviors still being that of a Jedi Master, but they'd gotten better with time, and now could more easily hold a conversation. When his Grand Nephew suggested the formation of the Confederacy, Dooku had seen where he was coming from. Those conversations, a similar one with his friend before he died, and his own research, not to mention making inquiries with both people in power and several common men and women on the street, had made it clear that both the Republic and Jedi Order had failed.

It had most likely begun falling down the hill when it let corporations have representation in the Senate, then fell right off the cliff when they elected Palpatine in the wake of the Naboo Crisis. And the Jedi Order had been largely useless, especially since they still hadn't been making real efforts to investigate who Darth Maul served. He may have killed Dooku's old friend, Qui Gon Jinn, but he was still clearly the Apprentice, not the Master.

And as such, with no support from the Jedi or Republic, he might as well do it himself. Thus, the Confederacy. While he'd originally needed the support of a secret Council of CEOs to bring all of those people together, now that the Parliament, and the rest of the CIS, were more or less moving under their own inertia their usefulness had come to an end. So he'd either killed the Council himself or sent them into ambushes by Republic troops as they raided Geonosis.

It was unfortunate, and if there'd been any other way he would've gladly taken it, but in this galaxy there were no good options. Once the war was over he'd gladly resign and turn himself in, but that depended on him surviving long enough to do so. Evan might be only barely Force Sensitive, not enough to be a true Jedi, or even to end up in the Agricultural Corp, but he could still help forge the basis for that new Order to replace the Jedi, one that followed a new philosophy. The Jedi had become stagnant, mired in their own traditions and dogma, while the Sith could never truly be successful. The Dark Side was a fickle and unreliable ally, one that would always betray the user in the end.

On the other hand, his Grand Nephew would probably be more inclined to blow him up with that new ship of his. He'd seen the specs of the Eternity, the mobile headquarters of the CAF, and despite it's enormous size he doubted there was anything in the galaxy that could withstand a direct hit from the Odysseys Anti-Proton Cannon.