[The Count makes a deep 'hmm' noise in his chest, appreciative and contemplative. Bitter is exactly how he feels, deeply bitter, even moreso than usual- and Count Dooku is a being who has been very familiar with bitterness for a very long time.]

Then perhaps keeping the peace is not their true cause, and never has been. Their only real purpose is to continually punish those they consider deserving- and that is not a fate I am prepared to accept.

[Never mind that they had, indeed, gone very easy on Count Dooku by any standard- devastator of a galaxy, master of two slave armies pitted against one another, architect of purges and superweapons, inciter of imPort villainy. What he deserves is secondary to what he needs, and what he needs is his weapon back.]