A/N: Oh sheesh. XD I don't even know where to start with how long this took. I can only say that I feel like I'm at work constantly, so when I get home I just sit and play video games for a few hours until I have to go to bed so I can get up for work. D: THIS IS NOT FUN.

But I finally got this chapter finished. It was a difficult one because it's a set up chapter, however it now means I'm to working on a chapter I actually want to write. Yay, right?

Of course, I wrote this over the span of MONTHS, so I imagine it will be slightly disjointed. I tried to even it all out, but eh. D:

Oh, and lastly, I wanted to mention to all you Hyperspace subscribers that there's a fiction story about Obi-Wan and Dooku's conversation in EP II online now. Very, very interesting, though for the purposes of Deceptions, it didn't happen that way, as well... It changes their relationship in a rather negative way, which wouldn't work for this fic. However, it's definately very interesting, so I recommend it to everyone with a Hyperspace account.

Now, without further ado, I give you chapter 10.

Deceptions; chapter 10
by: Amrita Glittersong

"You're doing it wrong."

"Obviously." Obi-Wan commented dryly. "But I appreciate you informing me in such an eloquent way."

Dooku gave him a slightly irritated look. "Focus, Obi-Wan." He said, sounding rather like a disapproving master.

Obi-Wan gave Dooku a look that clearly conveyed his annoyance, but then nodded and settled back into his ready stance. They clashed their sabres into another lock, complete with Dooku's commentary.

"You're centering your weight incorrectly.." The Sith said, earning yet another glare. "You should be pushing my lightsabre away so you have an opening, not simply opposing whatever direction the force is coming from."

"I know that." Obi-Wan said, refraining from adding that he was finding it difficult not to simply kick Dooku in the shin. After all, though that might work once, it wouldn't help again and he really did need to get better with sabre locks. Not to mention it would go against Obi-Wan attempts at getting his recently volatile temper under control. The Knight was actually beginning to get concerned over his own thoughts and actions as of late. He wasn't certain if it was because he was surrounded by so much of the dark side, or if he was getting a little too far into his acting, or something else entirely, but he was quite looking forward to getting this entire ordeal over with and spending some calming time at the Temple.

"Alright, Obi-Wan." Dooku said patiently. "With the position you're in right now, I can easily repeat what I did before on Geonosis. But if you sidestep and turn your wrists, you have a clear strike at my chest."

Following the instructions, Obi-Wan turned his sabre and stepped to the side slowly, allowing Dooku to avoid actually being hit while they practiced the move. Though they'd both turned down the power settings on their lightsabres, it was best not to take unnecessary chances.

Dooku had suggested the session about an hour earlier, both to practice their skills and to release some of the tension that had been building up, but they'd only really been practicing for twenty minutes or so as the rest of the time had been spent arguing over etiqeutte and exactly what power settings to calibrate to and if this was really a good use of time.

Both were at something of a loss as to how to go about attempting to stop with what Sidious had planned, as they didn't actually know what it was. Neither thought Sidious himself was going to go on a one-Sith rampage, so they had agreed he must have some sort of accomplices or else a very, very large weapon.

This had led to a slightly awkward conversation involving some plans Dooku had passed along to Sidious from the engineers on Geonosis.

"So you mean to tell me that 'very, very large weapon' is a moon-sized understatement." Obi-Wan had commented dryly, earning a casual shrug from Dooku.

"You could indeed interpret it that way, yes." Dooku had conceded. "Though said weapon will take quite some time to build, so I don't believe it's likely to be part of the plan, at least not as of now."

And so they had once again been left without much to go on, hence the switch in subjects to dueling. According to Dooku, though Sidious rarely used a lightsabre he was still very adept at it, so much so that even combined they would stand little chance against him should it come to a fight.

"You just lost a leg." Dooku commented, turning his sabre and making a mock strike at Obi-Wan's knee. Obi-Wan looked down, shrugged, and swung his sabre at Dooku, stopping short of hitting him.

"I think you just lost something far more important." The Jedi replied with a small smile, gesturing at Dooku's head.

"Indeed. I find it useful." Dooku agreed. "As for you-" He stopped in the middle of what was no doubt going to be a witty, insulting comment, and both he and Obi-Wan looked towards the doorway of the training room. Sev'rance was waiting patiently for their attention, and once she had it, she began.

"My apologies for the interruption, but I have the files you had Asajj request." She told Dooku, striding into the room. With a respectful nod at Obi-Wan, she handed Dooku a datapad.

"Thank you, Tann. Dare I ask why Asajj did not deliver then herself?" Dooku asked her, and Sev'rance gave him a look that was an odd combination of exasperation, confusion, and disdain.

"She said something about having something more important to be doing. She seemed assured you wouldn't mind." She shrugged her shoulders elegantly. "Do you need anything else?"

"No, Tann. You're dismissed; I'm certain you have something that is actually important to be doing."

Sev'rance nodded her head at Dooku respectfully, did the same for Obi-Wan, and then strode from the room.

"Why isn't she your apprentice? She seems well suited to be." Obi-Wan asked, as Dooku turned on the datapad.

"I didn't have enough desire for an apprentice to deal with Sidious before." Dooku told him, prompting an amused look from Obi-Wan.

"I feel appreciated."

"You should, because I am about to counteract it." The Sith told him, looking up. "I need to go over these, so our sparring session shall have to be cut short."

"Cut short? Cut shorter, perhaps. But I was tiring of killing you over and over again." Obi-Wan commented.

"Really? I didn't feel the same way." Dooku said lightly, looking up from the datapad again. "As it is, I would appreciate it if you would meet me in my study in an hour; we shall need to go over what we know again, and if we do not set a time, it will not happen."

"Yes, because I have so much else to be doing right now." Obi-Wan said, amused.

"Couldn't you be hotwiring something, or doing something I explicitly asked you not to, or whatever else amuses you?"

"Possibly." Obi-Wan conceded. "Alright, I will be there." He thought about it for a moment. "Provided I can find it again."

"Obi-Wan!"

Obi-Wan turned when he heard his name called, looking back down the hallway he'd just come from to see Quinlan jogging towards him.

Obi-Wan had been wandering the fortress for the previous hour, doing very little other than learning his way around. It wasn't particularly difficult when he had a chance to concentrate, and he'd finally had that chance. He was quite impressed he hadn't run into anyone until this point, and even more so that Asajj hadn't leapt from around a corner yelling, "Boo!"

Shaking the mental image from his head, Obi-Wan waited a moment for the Quinlan to reach him before looking at the other Jedi quizzically.

"These halls are longer than they need to be." Quinlan muttered under his breath.

"They make the capes look more dramatic." Obi-Wan told him, swishing his cloak once in demonstration. "What did you need, Quin?"

Quinlan gave Obi-Wan a look that was a cross between amusement and annoyance, prompting another confused look from Obi-Wan. "Obi-Wan, it would be really nice if you kept your crazy girlfriend away from my girlfriend."

"What?" Obi-Wan asked, doubly confused by the request. "What are you talking about?"

"Ventress." Quinlan said.

"And which of the two is she?" Obi-Wan asked, quirking an eyebrow and getting a 'very funny' look from Quinlan. "Alright, what is she doing?"

"She's giving rather threatening looks at Khaleen." Quinlan said with a sigh. "She hasn't done anything else, but she has that look that she gets when she's plotting someone's terrible demise."

Obi-Wan sighed as well, shaking his head. "I'm not entirely certain why you think Ventress would listen to me."

Quinlan shrugged. "It seems that you and Dooku are the two she most pays attention to, and I wasn't about to ask Dooku."

Obi-Wan smiled then, amused. "Why not? That would have been an interesting conversation."

"Funny." Quinlan said. "I would ask if you could imagine his response to that, but you probably can."

"That you're right frightens me into thinking I've been spending far too much time with him." Obi-Wan commented, then shook his head. "As for what he'd do, he'd look offended that you were even speaking to him, and then he'd look more offended by the fact that his Acolytes are rather immature."

"They are kind of... Unimposing, once you get to know them." Quinlan commented in agreement. "The only one who might be taken seriously anymore is Tann. Skorr is a teacher's pet, Darc is a coward, and Ventress is jealous and insane."

"Those seem to be accurate descriptions." Obi-Wan agreed. "Alright, I'll see what I can do about Ventress, and I suggest you keep an eye on Khaleen for her own safety. Where is she now?"

"I left her with Tann." Quinlan said, turning to begin back down the hall. "But Tann's patience isn't infinite so I'd better get back. May the Force be with you. If you're going to talk to Ventress, you'll need it."

"Thank you, Quin." Obi-Wan responded flatly. "For your compassion and concern."

"Anytime." Quinlan called back before disappearing around the corner of the hall.

Obi-Wan stepped into Dooku's office, glancing around at the many shelves and the datapads they were filled with before turning his attention towards Dooku. "Have you found anything?"

"No." Dooku said, sounding displeased from where he was sitting in a chair, frowning in concentration as he scanned the datapad Sev'rance had given him earlier. He looked up as Obi-Wan approached. "I've found some things of interest, but nothing that I can be certain of. Of course, as our information is rather general, it's going to be difficult to pinpoint an exact method so that we may thwart it."

"You have no idea in the slightest how he intends to go about destroying the entire Order?" Obi-Wan said, wandering towards the shelves and looking them over for anything useful.

"No." Dooku said, watching the Knight. "And I don't believe it would be especially intelligent to ask him, either."

Obi-Wan sighed, but couldn't argue with that. "There has to be something you're missing." Obi-Wan said, turning away from the shelves.

"Something I'm missing?" Dooku echoed, sounding maligned and glancing up from his datapad.

"Yes. I'm not privy to secret Sith endeavors, remember? I'm not even privy to whether there is anything edible in this fortress." Obi-Wan replied, pulling a large, very old looking book from the shelves and opening it.

"Would you like to be? You'll have to fight Skorr for it; he requested first."

"I care nearly enough, but no."

"Pity. I would have liked to se you and Skorr battle to the death." Dooku said, glancing up again and giving Obi-Wan what was nearly a smirk. "Perhaps though, over something more interesting, such as Asajj."

Obi-Wan sighed and put the book back. "Provided I had any incentive to fight over Asajj, do you really hate Skorr that much?"

"Your schizophrenic arrogance both amuses me and causes me great confusion." Dooku said with a shake of his head.

"It's good for you. My ego balances yours out." Obi-Wan told him.

"Or perhaps it simply combines with mine to create one horrible, pervasive field of megalomania. We should compete against the Acolytes."

"I don't know; they might win. Unless of course Darc detracts from their overall score."

"Asajj can compensate if he does. And we can't underestimate Tann or Vos, though Skorr is not particularly egocentric, simply loud." Dooku sounded as though he was putting a lot of thought into it.

"What if we claim Sidious? We would simply have to turn on the holonet and watch him bluster in the senate, and he can compete from afar." Obi-Wan added, amused.

Dooku scoffed. "It would be no contest. He has both of us outdone; the Acolytes would have no chance."

"What if it was Sidious versus you, I, and the Acolytes combined?"

"Our collective arrogance may just be enough for a victory." Dooku said, and looked as though he was seriously considering it.

"Now if only figuring out whose arrogance crushed whose would actually help us discover what we're attempting to discover." Obi-Wan said, drifting back towards Dooku's desk.

Dooku thought about that for a moment, then suddenly looked up at the Jedi. "It might. Sidious is arrogant; enough so to believe he could outsmart anyone who might oppose him."

"Everything he has done has been in plain sight." Obi-Wan said, catching the train of thought. "Because he believes both that he can place everything in front of his enemies and they wouldn't figure it out, and that by doing so, it would actually serve to allay suspicion. He would hide his true plans in plain sight, and likely have them set in motion in an entirely different way."

Dooku suddenly stood. "Obi-Wan. The clones."

Obi-Wan stared at him, taking a moment to process that. "The clones. We're talking about the ones that make up the Grand Army, correct?"

"No, Darth Sarcasm, the other clones." Dooku said with a theatrical sigh.

"Who is being Darth Sarcasm now? And this is not a time for jokes." Obi-Wan told him, frowning and crossing his arms. "I was making certain I had heard you correctly."

"You did."

"We've established that."

Dooku sighed again and moved on as if they'd never become sidetracked. "The clones were ordered by myself under Sidious' orders, and while I had thought they were there simply to be used in the War, perhaps that was only intended as their first use."

"They are with almost all of the Jedi that are not on Coruscant." Obi-Wan agreed, as the implications set in. "And with the War, few Jedi are on Coruscant. The Temple is relatively unprotected."

"It wouldn't require many clones to take the Temple." Dooku said. "And it wouldn't be difficult to catch Jedi spread around the galaxy unaware with an attack by their very own troops."

Obi-Wan began pacing across the polished floor. "The army fits everything we were discussing that we believed Sidious would do. However, we have nothing besides that to go on."

"There is an, even in my opinion, enormous manual that accompanies the order of clones." Dooku informed him as he watched the Knight pace. "A master copy is kept on Kamino. As I placed the order, and you are a Jedi, we should be able to obtain a copy of our own."

Obi-Wan nodded. "And, if there is something hidden about them, we will find it."

"Indeed." Dooku agreed, standing up. "When will you be ready to depart?"

"Immediately." Obi-Wan responded, stopping and turning to face the Count.

"Good." Dooku said. "I shall make some arrangements with the Acolytes, and then the two of us will be on our way to Kamino."