Star Wars: Vengeance From The Unknown

Treaty In The Darkness

By

Christopher Cleveland & Diego Feliu

Prologue

"Our engines have been compromised, get to the escape pod!" Darth Maul commanded his brother and apprentice, Savage Opress. "It's too late," Savage replied as he nursed the stump of his left arm which had been severed with a lightsaber by Obi-Wan Kenobi. "Trust me, apprentice!" Maul hissed as he rose up for Savage to help him. He himself had lost one of his mechanical legs at the hands of the Florumm pirates he had tried to recruit and now required mobile assistance.

It was assistance that his brother reluctantly gave as Maul swung an arm over his shoulder and both walked to the escape pod of their ship. When they made it in, Savage was quick to resume the nursing of his wound and resting but Maul could not do that yet. He punched in a code and detached their escape pod from the ship then piloted it a ways away from their wrecked transport. It was only when he had guaranteed that the pirates were not shooting at the escape pod and he had a course to go on that he himself relaxed.

Fatigue and defeat washed over the former apprentice of the sinister Darth Sidious. He had been in a self-imposed exile for the last twelve years after being sliced in half on Naboo by Kenobi. However, Savage had found him and with the aid of the mysterious Mother Talzin, Maul recovered his memory as well as his anger and desire for revenge. Though he had failed to kill Kenobi over Reydonia, he had been confident that he would destroy him and gather strength on Florumm.

Instead, the Jedi Knight had united his powers with the pirates and forced the Zabrak brothers on the retreat. Maul had stated that he and Savage would have another opportunity for his ultimate plan but now... he wasn't so sure. Was this his destiny: to be constantly defeated and left injured by Kenobi? Did his life conclude in being forever pursued by the Jedi and his former master as he had tried so hard to prevent from happening?

Or was there still a future that included power and glory beyond his greatest dreams? He certainly wouldn't find out if that was so with the pirates of Hondo Ohnaka. But what if he could find it out with someone outside the galaxy? Could he perhaps find his own path of conquest in regions not yet charted by the Republic or the Separatists?

Then, as if this question was the reason it was provoked, the image of a planet that was cold and lifeless on the inside but relatively serene from outside appeared. He knew that though many external atmospheres looked like what this outside one did, he knew there were almost none charted in the galaxy that had the interior of this one. Could this vision be a clue in his salvation and if so, how would he get there? Then it occurred to him that a lightspeed jump on this pod could get him to Polis Massa, a facility that could provide excellent medical services for himself and his brother.

Perhaps on Polis Massa, they could find out what that planet was even if they couldn't get medical service. I'll see to it that at the very least, Savage gets some help for his arm he thought to himself. After all, Maul had only lost one mechanical leg and thus he lost no blood when it was blown off. But his brother had lost a biological limb when Obi-Wan defeated them, his wound was going to acquire a little more attention; as was the dent it put in his pride as each second passed without help.

Chapter One

"Something is stirring in the Underworld, crime families have had too much free reign with the Jedi busy fighting the Clone Wars. I fear it is a fertile place for Maul to flourish if he has indeed survived," said Obi-Wan Kenobi to Jedi Masters Yoda and Windu. "Hm, right you may be Obi-Wan but heed the words of the Chancellor we must. A personal matter this is for you, clouded your judgment may be.

"If he lives, reveal himself again Maul will and then swiftly we shall act," Yoda replied. "In the meantime, let us make preparations for the funeral of Master Gallia. It is long past time that we consecrated her body in the Temple while her spirit becomes one with the Force," Windu interjected. Obi-Wan nodded, knowing full well that leaving the body of a dead Jedi Council member unattended was a bad idea even for a short period of time.

But this one was different: Master Adi Gallia was once the mentor of a Jedi Obi-Wan had fallen in love with. And even before discovering his feelings for the apprentice known as Siri Tachi, Kenobi had been good friends with both her and Gallia. His own Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, was a good friend of Master Gallia and both the men and the women became exceptionally close for Jedi. Now Gallia, Qui-Gon and Siri were all dead with Siri being the only one who wasn't killed by Maul or his brother.

Were Yoda and the Chancellor right about his judgment being clouded by his personal experience with the Dark Lord? Could he be just overreacting because Maul had survived being sliced in half and now Kenobi needed to make sure the job was done? Or did he feel an underlying need for revenge that could only be satisfied with seeing the dead body of Maul and his brother? When he had used his lightsaber and Adi's in unison, he felt empowered both by the strategy of using Jar'Kai and the fear he sensed was growing within the brothers the more he used it.

Had he preyed on that fear as well as the surprise hidden beneath their courageous face when he first took on a Jar'Kai stance? If so, he had made himself no better than the brothers ever were just to bring justice to the closest things to parents he ever had. He had made himself like the Sith just so he could avenge Qui-Gon (the father figure of his life) and Adi (the mother figure) in one final battle. It was the exact same tactic Maul had used both on the duel in Raydonia and on Florumm.

He had so many questions racing through his head and not enough time in which to answer them before he had to clear his mind of thoughts unrelated to Master Gallia. After all, he was the one who knew her best that was still alive and the only capable of giving final words about her. His former Padawan Anakin Skywalker tried his best to assist Obi-Wan in calming himself but as always, Anakin's attempts added to the frustration rather than reducing it. The same could also be said of Anakin's own Padawan Ahsoka Tano who tried her best to aid him as well but found she couldn't.

"I'm worried for Obi-Wan, he hasn't said a word since going into the Chancellor's chamber with you," she said to Anakin before the procession. "Sometimes, no words are needed to mourn for those we loved that are now lost to us forevermore. He'll be all right, he just needs time to clear his mind of this whole situation with Darth Maul and his brother," he replied. Obi-wan mentally thanked his former apprentice for that compliment to his intelligence but did nothing else on that front.

It was when the procession finally began that everyone stood to attention to hear the oral obituary by Master Kenobi. But not before they first laid Adi's body to rest and watched as the hatch doors to her grave opened to let her into the pit awaiting her and closing when she was in. As the orange beam of light which symbolized the closing of her tomb shone, Windu called Kenobi to the front. "Please tell those in attendance at the funeral what you remembered of Master Adi Gallia before her death," he said.

Kenobi hesitated even as he continued walking to the stand, knowing that his affair with Siri had to remain secret but he also had to be honest. Thus, he concluded that he would have to give passing mentions of Siri (at most) to state that she and Adi had worked together with Kenobi and Qui-Gon. It was the right thing to do and besides, this was Gallia's obituary and not Siri's or Qui-Gon's. "I first met Adi Gallia when she and her Padawan Siri Tachi accompanied my Master Qui-Gon and I during the Zan Arbor Crisis," he began.

No one in the chambers interjected, having full knowledge of Zan Arbor and his obsession with harnessing the Force. This had gone on to include the "experimentation" done on Qui-Gon and Adi Gallia when he managed to capture them. As a result of that knowledge, combined with the irrelevance of the knowledge in this speech anyhow, Obi-Wan was allowed to continue. "She had an excellent fighting ability, her use of Shien being one of the most exceptional displays I have ever seen.

"But besides that, Master Adi Gallia was a fearless, charismatic, and wise leader who dedicated herself to the Order in every aspect of her life. She was a kind being who wouldn't stop to help someone else who was in need even if the circumstances of her mission were dire. My Master Qui-Gon respected her as a friend which was something I came to do for both her and her Padawan Siri, later on. Having said what I have said of her character and fighting ability, she did not deserve to die the way she had died at the hands of the Dathomiri Zabrak Sith Lord named Savage Opress.

"He was reckless, brutal, and primitive in how he used his double-sided lightsaber and desperate in most of his attacks. And I must admit that when I saw him gore her with his horns before skewering her with his blade, I could not hold back on my desire to kill him. However, I was forced to settle for having severed his left arm which has become a trophy of Hondo Ohnaka since. But I commemorated the memory of her by using her lightsaber in unison with my own against the brothers, defeating them as a direct result.

"Strength in character prevailed when strength in numbers gave way to it. But I will never forget the years of friendship and constant companionship Adi Gallia has given to me. She and her deceased former Padawan were there for me nearly as long as my former Master had been and that is something I don't take lightly. Neither should the rest of you who knew Adi Gallia and can relate your own experiences with her to mine.

"We will never forget you Adi Gallia, may the Force be with your spirit in the netherworld. And may you find peace in there that you did not have in your final years alive," he said, concluding his speech with that last comment. Though the Jedi around him applauded his speech, he knew that their applause were not because of the words of his speech. Instead, it was the power and the compassion with which they were said that truly moved them and impressed them to warrant applause.

After the applause rang through the chamber, those who also had knowledge of Adi Gallia or worked with her spoke. But Obi-wan did not want to stick around for this part of the his friend's entombment process. Instead, he wanted to meditate and see if by doing so, he could somehow track down Darth Maul's location or at least follow where he may go if he was still alive. He needed some hint of either solace in Maul's death or worry in that Maul had survived the skirmish on Florumm.

It was true that he no intention of disobeying the Council's will but he had to know anyway. After all, nothing said prepared like knowing the true status of your enemy's existence before those who commanded you did. He also decided that he would not relate what he found to Anakin, knowing how he had revered Qui-Gon as the father he never had. Anakin would be out for revenge for the death of Qui-Gon and Adi Gallia far more extremely than Obi-Wan.

Thus it was best not to discuss revelations of any kind with his former Padawan who had also worked with Gallia and Tachi when Kenobi was a collaborator. With his kind of attitude, Maul and Savage would be triumphing over the Jedi Order relatively quick as if that wasn't needed to worsen things he added to himself. With these thoughts and the goal of finding the former servant of the mysterious Darth Sidious, Obi-wan crossed his legs, inhaled and exhaled slowly, then began a trance. His quest for knowledge had begun and he was ready for anything that turned up as a direct result of it.

Across the stars, far from the prying eyes of the Jedi on Coruscant and the pirates on Florumm, laid a planet whose light-blue atmosphere was serene in appearance. However, it hid a harsher reality that included prolonged winters, icy mountains, and hurricane winds that brought death to those who did not have shelter. Here, one man made home whenever he was not on a path of conquest in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy. In the Core, he would have been called Thrawn but to his fellow Chiss he was known as Mitth'raw'nuruodo, a warlord whose own goals cast him into exile from his people.

But before leaving, he assured them that he would find a power great enough to not only aid him in the takeover of the Unknown Regions but also to help satisfy his revenge against them. Today, he had decided that weeks of archaeological expeditions into the caves surrounding his shelter were fruitless. But it was when someone had told him that they may have found an ancient Talisman, he asked immediately for a description. In addition, he also ordered that no one try to take it from where it was rested until he could find out what it was and decide if they should take it.

If it is what I think it is then we have come to planet Irkalla, a stage for the end of the First Great Schism of the Jedi Order. And if we are on Irkalla, that can only mean that we have found the Kashi Mer Talisman he thought to himself. He knew the story of the talisman very well and had dedicated himself to its finding in the hopes of channeling its power for his conquest. It was true that the artifact was a power meant for a wielder of the Dark Side but he also knew about the legends behind it taking its own sentience and teaching those who bore it how to use it properly.

If all the legends turned out to be true and he could use the Talisman without being Force-sensitive, he had the powers of a god in the palm of his hand. All under the assumption that they were on Irkalla and had found an artifact matching the Talisman's description. When he asked what it looked like, what he got as an answer astounded him beyond comprehension. "It's prism shaped, grey in color, and matches the twenty by ten measure we were given," the expedition leader stated.

When Thrawn looked back in the massive book of ancient artifacts he kept in his headquarters, he realized the description the digger gave and the one in the book matched exactly. "Gentlemen, we have found the Kashi Mer Talisman whose ancient power was once used to aid the first defects of the Jedi Order in the First Great Schism. It has endured twenty-five thousand years, waiting patiently for us to find it and now, we shall extract it," he said. Then he gave the orders for the diggers already present in the chamber to begin removing the Talisman but doing so carefully in case it was fragile.

He was aware of the possibility that it was otherwise but he wanted to be safe rather than sorry. But that was when something went awry with the extraction of the Kashi Mer Talisman. The leader of the expedition told his men to halt their progress because he spied something "interesting". Thrawn kept him online so that he could see what the man was talking about despite the primitivity of his recording devices. The leader's cam turned to a corpse that had been found in the sarcophagus that contained the Talisman but slowly and noticeably, it began rejuvenating.

"Master, are you noticing how the heart was beating before we even touched the Talisman? It looks like whoever this is shall be coming to life for us to see thanks to the Talisman's power," he said. Thrawn had to admit that he wasn't expecting this but was glad to see that the artifact was working its magic on what had been believed to be a corpse. Unfortunately, all he got of the woman who was being rejuvenated was what she looked before she went into a fit of insane rage.

With a single surge of Force power from her hands combined with a scream that he knew to be that of the lunatic, Thrawn watched as the cam of his expedition leader went static. "Captain Lear, come in! Are you alright, are you alive? Come in!" he demanded.

Unfortunately, when the static lasted more than the few seconds of a technical defect the answer was clear. In a fit of crazed rage, the woman with the powers of the Force had killed his men and destroyed all of their equipment. Now, all he had was the cam recording of the footage that had played before him which was something he could use later if he could get a Jedi or some other Force-attuned agent there. I'm not going to be able to go in there until someone who is at least equally powerful as her clears it in advance or persuades her to come out of the cave with it he thought to himself.

Mitth'raw'nuruodo was young but he was no fool, even in the face of a possible defeat. Besides, he had worked for many years with those men and though he had plenty of opportunity to do so he had never viewed them as more than coworkers. Now they were gone and he was going to have to round up someone else to finish the job they started when their families had been heavily dependent on the success of their expedition as well as their safe return. If there's anything I despise, it's writing compensation checks for the families of those who die on these sorts of expedition but I must he remind himself sincerely.

As fate would have it, despite being unable to avoid writing the checks, a Force-sensitive was on his way to Thrawn. When he arrived, he would prove most useful to eliminating Thrawn's newfound pest and getting the Talisman out of that chamber. He had to have its power for himself, then and only then could he guarantee that he had victory in every battle and galactic dominion. Though he was patient, and unlike humans, could afford to wait for years to come he prefered not to.

For several long hours since the Florumm skirmish, Darth Maul and Savage had been flying in lightspeed toward the asteroid system known as Polis Massa. The wounds of Florumm were still fresh and Maul knew that he and his brother were going to have to be careful should they be met with armed confrontation upon arrival. Thus, he thought up an idea that his brother deemed primitive but knew would be effective with their present a plank and several bundles of strong wire, Maul made a basket and told his brother to sever his other mechanical leg at the knee.

Not only was this the same point where his other leg had been blown off by the pirates but this would also allow the fullest use of Maul's effective idea. "Now put me into the basket and walk outside once we land and are permitted off the ship. If the Polis Massans are armed, this will help us fight together despite our wounds especially when we spin around to deliver several cuts with our blades," he explained once they were cleared to land. "I don't understand, don't we just simply try to negotiate with them if philanthropy is their reputation?" Savage asked.

A few days before Florumm, Maul had asked Savage to research planets with an excellent medical history. During the research, he had learned of Polis Massa and how they were famed for not only their medical efficiency but their kindness and philanthropic philosophies. Maul considered this carefully as he prepared to answer his brother's question directly and bluntly. "Philanthropy can include helping the Jedi who may still be looking for us, they didn't really define what they meant by it, did they?" he asked in reply to his brother's question.

Savage shrugged as a sign that he yielded to that point in his brother's wise and thought-out argument. Without further ado, Savage lifted his brother into the basket before slinging it over his shoulder. One of the straps was especially designed to accommodate for his severed arm by having the option of being tightened if the Zabak wished it. It was something he did immediately and when the hatch opened to signal their arrival onto Polis Massa, what they saw astounded them.

Instead of armed security guards, they greeted by the medical staff Maul had requested upon entering the premises out of lightspeed. "Let us take you two to the medical center and quickly," the chief of staff stated upon their departure of their ship. Savage marched with the procession and his brother watched as those behind them quickly filled up the space that they had walked through just seconds ago. Something's not right about the way they do that; I can feel it he thought but did not say.

When they finally arrived in the medical center, Savage and Maul were both placed upon tables with the basket in between them on the floor. The doctors took a sample of Savage's blood, a procedure Maul thought unnecessary when they could see that he had lost a limb, and put it through a scanner. What came out was the measurements they would need in order to safely replace Savage's lost arm. It was at that point that Maul realized that the Polis Massans were good at medicine but their means were primitive and it was impressive that they had such a good record.

"Medically, your brother is completely healthy but for reasons of lack of experience, we can do nothing about replacing his arm," the doctor said. "Is there at least something you can do for my legs?" Maul asked. The doctor shook his head and added that there was nothing they could do without having to keep Maul here long enough for them to build replacements for him. "Then perhaps you could point us to a planet that may have the resources we need to restore our lost limbs, could you?" Maul inquired.

He couldn't believe that he had survived the skirmish on Florumm only to come to a medical facility that had almost no experience in handling the wounds he and his brother had taken. "That depends on whether or not you have one in mind, already. There are several military-based planets around that may have the facilities you need," the doctor explained to him. "There is one planet that I had in mind should this place not have the facilities I need," Maul admitted before describing the planet in his vision.

"You are looking to go to Irkalla? There is nothing there except for the the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force. Unless you have previous association with them, they're more likely to shoot you down then let you land," the doctor warned. "I think I'll take my chances with being shot down by the Chiss than stay here when nothing can be done to receive assistance," Maul replied.

"In that case, our fastest ship is docked in docking bay 3564-8B and is fueled for use at any time," the doctor said. It was after that a medical technician called the doctor over to look at something he had pulled from their databases. Judging by the tone of their speech and the mounting tension that Maul sensed, it was probably about them. Then he heard the worst thing that he could've heard the doctor say, "Destroy their ship and make sure our forces are ready to arrest them."

Immediately, Maul commanded Savage on his feet and the basket slung over his shoulders. As soon as Savage did that, Maul used the Force to catapult himself into a perfect fit. Then he grabbed his lightsaber's hilt and ignited the blade, letting the red light of it glow for a few moments. Savage followed his lead and ignited both sides of his double-bladed lightsaber and both brothers prepared to fight.

"Drop your weapons and come quietly with us or else there will be trouble," the doctor warned them. "You're right, there will be trouble but you will be the ones who are dead before the end of this, not us!" Maul growled. Then he signaled Savage to cut down the doctor and his technicians though not before one sounded the alarm and gave out the orders for the ship's destruction.

The rest of the Polis Massans were now on to the scene of the crime with the knowledge of who the brothers were, thus forcing them to fight. Their lives were on the line and the revelation of their survival to the Jedi was at stake. It was something they couldn't allow while still recovering their pride.