Dooku was an eager student, and yet Sidious had continued to hold him at arm's length. Perhaps he had been working with other potential replacements for his earier apprentice, the savage Darth Maul, who, in fact, had been nothing more than a minion, like Asajj Ventress and General Grievous. Sidious had recognized in Dooku the makings of a true accomplice - an equal from the other camp, already trained in the Jedi arts, a master duelist, a political visionary. But he needed to gauge the depth of Dooku's commitment.
"One of your former confidants in the Jedi Temple has percieved the coming change", Sidious had told him. "This one has contacted a group of cloners, regarding the creation of an army for the Republic. The order for the army can stand, for we will be able to make use of that army someday. But Master Sifo-Dyas cannot stand, for the Jedi cannot learn about the army until we are prepared to have them learn of it."
And so with the murder of Sifo-Dyas, Dooku had embraced the dark side fully, and Sidious conferred on him the title of Darth Tyrannus. His final act before leaving the Jedi Order was to erase all mention of Kamino from the Jedi archives. Then, he had found Fett on Bogg 4; had instructed him to deliver himself to Kamino; and had arranged for payment to be made to the cloners through circuitous routes...
This novel will be released January 25th, but be sure to check some shelves early.
