On the planet Coruscant, in an abandoned, dark industrial area, a lone ship flies toward a towering spire that looks like it will fall apart at any moment.

It was a rather deceptive appearance, as the ship landed on a platform without any trouble, and the dilapidated construction gave no indication that the ship would have compromised structural integrity.

Stepping out of the ship, Count Dooku's cloak fluttered in the planet's wind.

He took a moment to survey the area, using his own eyes and his gifts in the Force to see that no one was here except one.

Nodding to himself, the Separatist leader walked into the large building.

Within seconds of entering the building, Dooku immediately spotted the black-robed figure of his Master.

"Lord Sidious." Dooku leaned forward and bowed respectfully.

"Darth Tyrannus." Sidious greeted his apprentice. "Is the Council still arguing?"

"Yes, Master," Dooku said. "As for the Republic?"

Sidious nodded in confirmation, then finally asked something that had been bothering him for some time.

"What is this meeting about, Dooku? Why did you ask to see me in person?

"I'm sorry? Master, didn't you ask me to come here? Dooku said puzzledly.

Sidious suddenly frowned upon hearing this, narrowing his eyes at his apprentice. "I have done no such thing. The information for our meeting came directly from you.

"I have never sent such a message." Dooku shook his head in denial.

Sidious felt a surge of anger rising within him. He had not detected Tyrannus's lies, and he knew he had not sent him any messages.

So what's going on?

"We were deceived." Sidious said after thinking for a while. "Someone sent a fake message to both of us, asking us to meet here."

"But that's impossible. This is a private channel," Dooku argued.

"Nothing is personal to a man like me." A metallic voice echoed through the large room where the two stood.

In an instant, both Sith Lords had their lightsabers out, ready to ignite them.

They looked around the room until Sidious's eyes landed on a particularly dark spot in the room.

He growled loudly, causing Dooku to turn in the direction he was facing, and both Sith Lords saw glowing red eyes and a faint red smile.

"It's fairly easy to copy and splice your holographic image, your voice, speech patterns and mannerisms. I have to work out what dialogue I can pull out now to make things right so I can lure both of you here.

Stepping out from the shadows was the two-meter-tall artificial intelligence threat, Ultron.

"You have a lot of stupid courage to come here on your own, despicable robot." Dooku sneered viciously.

Ultron was shocked by the Count's words. "You must be older than you look. You know I'm here, there, everywhere. Do you think destroying a body is enough to take me out?

Dooku tightened his grip on his curved lightsaber while Sidious glared at the metal creature in utter disdain.

Seeing Sidious, Ultron rolled his eyes in complete annoyance.

"You can ditch the hood, old man. You already know that I know your 'secret identity', so get that crap off you." Ultron said sarcastically. "Or I'll have to rip it off, Chancellor."

Dooku turned sharply in horror towards his master, then back towards the tall metal man, as Palpatine gave in and removed his hood.

"Here we go," Ultron said to mocking applause. "You do realize that wearing it on your head can lead to baldness, right? On the other hand... in hindsight, you don't have much to look at. Honestly, if someone captured some of your dialogue or recordings with that outfit, they could do some magic to filter what's in and out."

"And yet, they did not," Palpatine said in a controlled voice.

"Sooner or later, your luck will run out."

"What does this mean, robot?" Dooku asked in a deadly voice.

"I just want to have a good chat, face to face."

Ultron took a step forward and the two Sith Lords stepped back slightly.

As Dooku activated one of his lightsabers, Sidious ignited both. The reddish blades extinguished, illuminating the dark space in an unsettling light.

Seeing this, Ultron laughed at their behavior. "Come on... did you think swinging your lightsaber would scare me?

With a flick of his wrist, a green lightsaber shot out of the opening in one arm, while a blue lightsaber shot out of the opening in the other.

"I can go to Grievous and get a few more if you'd like." Ultron challenged with a manic grin. "After all, I studied his blueprints, took some ideas, and improved them to my specifications."

Now both Dooku and Sidious were on edge.

"Now we can waste no more time, you two would be in a losing battle against me." Ultron then deactivated his stolen lightsaber as he crossed his arms. "Or we can talk things out. Even if you destroy this body, I have more bodies to take its place.

The two Sith Lords still stood their ground, their lightsabers still active, until they both knew it was best to go along with what this crazy man wanted.

"What do you want?" Dooku asked cautiously.

"Declare a challenge."

"...A challenge? Is that what you want?

"Yes."

“What does this challenge relate to?”

The synth chuckled, smirking at the two Sith Lords.

"In this case, may the best man or superior AI win," Ultron said.

"What did you win?"

"Finish their endgame first."

Dooku and Sidious glared at the AI.

"Oh my god, have you two just been staring at me all day?" Ultron asked back. "You idiots do know that I know your dirty little secrets, right? Oh? Don't believe me? Order 66.

The Sith Lords inhaled sharply at the mention of that number.

"how--"

Not to mention that you two prepared some other backup plans in case your "puppet" didn't work out." Ultron snorted, lost in thought. "What's up with the space station you're building? Can't really find anything.

"With good reason," Dooku muttered murderously.

Ultron gave the man a questioning look until-

"Ah~ I see, even some of your dirty secrets are kept close to your chest?" Ultron nodded in agreement. "I can respect that. I guess everyone has their secrets.

"If you're done with this game..." Sidious almost growled, the light from his lightsaber crackling at his fingertips.

"Game? Do you think I'm playing games?

Sidious had enough and instantly fired a powerful torrent of Sith lightning at the AI.

Instead of trying to defend himself, Ultron raised his arms in a welcoming manner, and a moment later, lightning rained down around his body.

Palpatine held on for a few more seconds until he realized he was gaining nothing and stopped his shocks.

"Oh, that's delicious. Hit me again and I'd rather have some juice." Ultron taunted, tiny shocks of electricity dancing around his massive frame.

This time, Dooku joined his master as he cast his own Sith lightning into the mix. Unfortunately, it was far from enough to harm the synthetics.

"Ah~ that was a nice cocktail." Ultron said, his body literally buzzing. "What? Don't look so surprised. I was struck by lightning from literal God. You think your little light show is enough to bring me down? The impact of Thor's hammer is far greater than anything you could muster."

"You are right," Sidious shouted. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm glad you asked me that so I can take the time to explain my evil-" Ultron couldn't help but laugh, and after a moment he began to smile.

This only further angered the two Sith Lords whose patience had worn out.

"Don't think I'm that stupid to do something like this. I'm not like one of those stereotypical children's cartoon villains. I'd rather keep my opponents guessing until they can't guess anymore.

Ultron turned around. "Well, I've said my piece, and I guess you two old men have plans of your own. I guess I should leave you to it."

The AI ​​had thrusters built into it that allowed him to fly above them both.

"The first one to reach the finish line wins!" Ultron shouted tauntingly before dashing out of the room, leaving the two Dark Lords fretting over the failure of this meeting.

Now the two Sith Lords can only laugh at the distant form of their new adversary in the galaxy. And it's just as well, because they're totally unprepared for Ultron.

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