C1P4
Groggily, her eyes opened. Her mouth was dry and her skin burned from the irritation. The low hum of the engines told her she was in a ship, likely a shuttle. Reaching out to the Force, she felt no danger nearby. Turning her head slightly, she realized that someone had bandaged her wounds and placed her under blankets.
The sound of clanking steps quickly told her who her savior was.
A B1 Battledroid with no markings tilted it's head at her, before offering her a cup of water.
Asajj forced herself to sit up in the cot, much to the alarm of the droid who tried to steady her. A mild glare at it stopped it in it's tracks, but the water it brought soothed the dry throat and let her croak several questions.
"We are on a direct course to Seranno, ma'am," it said quietly. "Your burns are quite severe. I do not have the programming to affect but the most basic wounds."
"Fool! I am Count Dooku's apprentice! I do not need mere bandages to heal, not when the dark side of the Force will suffice," she hissed, sending the droid recoiling away in fight. "Leave me. I must meditate to regain my strength."
The battledroid nodded silently and left.
It was only after starting her meditations, did Ventress realize just how odd the droid was. Normally the accursed things wouldn't stop talking. And the way it spoke...didn't matter.
Having whimsical thoughts of some stupid battledroid's quirks was nothing in comparison to her mission for her master. What was worse, it was bringing her directly to him...though Ventress was supposed to be going to Seranno after the Jedi were delivered.
Either way she had failed to secure the data her master wanted, but at least she knew where it was.
True, Dooku would not be pleased and would punish her a little, but it was a small price to pay. But as soon as she got a new ship, before the day was even over, she would be on her way to intercept that accursed Jedi and steal that data, killing them and grabbing her prize all in one deft swoop!
A cruel smile crossed her lips, even as the motion sent a shot of pain across her face.
Oh, yes, Kenobi would never expect her when she ambushed him!
She let herself bask in the moment, imagining his reaction and savoring it. It only seemed like a few minutes before the droid announced that it was on approach to Seranno, Count Dooku's palace.
As the ship landed, she pushed herself up, feeling noticeably better after her meditative trance. The B1 hurried to her side, just behind her, quickly handing her her lightsabers.
The dathomarian grabbed the sabers without comment, though she idle wondered where she left them. Thankfully not on that ship, lightsabers were a pain to rebuild.
The droid followed her faithfully, to her slight amusement, and she was given free passage into Dooku's citadel, his many guards making way for her. It did not take her long before she was entering her master's private chambers, though she did give the battledroid following her a disdainful glance that stopped it in it's tracks.
Satisfied, Ventress shut the door and walked up to Dooku's throne, her eyes focused only on her master. She reached his throne and knelt, her eyes lowering to the ground, whispering, "I have returned, my master."
Dooku did not deign to speak to her for a moment, merely staring down upon from with an expressionless face. Ventress forced herself to calm down as the silence stretched. Her master liked his mind games and she knew Dooku's eccentricities enough to know if he was displeased or cross with her for one reason or another.
"Yet another failure," murmured Dooku with a low sigh, reaching up to rub at his eyes. "Still, it was by design, so it was no fault of your's. There was traitor onboard the ship, I allowed the Republic to ambush you and retrieve their clones. The diversion is complete, my own agents have secured the data on Coruscant."
"I was...a distraction?" Asajj gasped, looking up to Dooku's amused face in shock. "Why was I not told?"
"The Jedi needed to see your reaction as genuine, so they would not suspect that the data had been stolen already. Deceptions upon deceptions my young apprentice. You still have much to learn, my child."
She lowered her head again, in subservience, conceding the point. Her master spoke again, this time bidding her to rise. A hologram appeared on a projector on the ground. It showed an icy blue world with rolling storms large and violent enough to be seen from distances away.
"This is Khorm, a recent ally and the sole source of a rare ore known as agrocite, with it we can use this ore to enhance our turbolasers immensely, giving us a decisive advantage over the Republic. You will be sent to this world in order to safeguard it from the Republic. I am told that a Republic battlegroup is already on their way to this world."
"I will require a small force of ships," Ventress said softly.
"....very well, there is a group of missile cruisers that I'm sure the good Viceroy will not miss." Count Dooku stared down upon her with a narrow gaze. "Your previous mission was doomed to failure by design. This one is mostly certainly not. Do not fail me."
"I won't, my master," Ventress murmured, bowing slightly before walking away.