Darth Maul, formerly a Sith, had joined the Ghost's crew. He didn't know if it had been a good or a bad idea, the Empire had discovered him and isolated him from everything. Communications, files, projects, plans, everything. If he had not accepted Sabine's proposal and had not saved the Jedi, by now, he would still be an anonymous bounty hunter, with zero problems with the Empire. Now, however, the Emperor put a big, big bounty on his head. If Maul had not been himself, he would have run to catch himself for all that money. It was certainly not a consoling thought. On the contrary, Reddie was screwed.

He had only joined the crew for five minutes, and the problems were already starting. Imperial assailants, TIE fighters, troops of all kinds roamed for Lothal in search of the Zabrak. No one could enter or leave the planet without the consent of the Empire and the rebels' ship, especially this ship, was rather well known.

Maul walked with Sabine to the bridge, the girl didn't seem in the least bit worried or intimidated by his appearance. The horns on the head, the red skin with black tattoos. No. The multicolored-haired girl seemed completely comfortable near him. Well, she did not seem bothered even when, initially, Reddie constantly wore his hood not to be recognized.

They entered the command bridge. Hera took the pilot's seat. Maul had to admit that having seen her a few times, he could already say that she was a very skilled pilot. She knew what she was doing and this was something the Zabrak liked very much. If there was one thing he could not stand at all, were incapable people.

The Master Jedi and his Padawan also entered and sat down. Kanan next to the pilot and Ezra behind him. Having seen the boy using the basic knowledge to manipulate the Force, and even if it took him too long to locate his Master, he had done a good job.

Sabine crouched on the seat behind Hera and placed a lock of hair behind her ear before speaking.

"So, you're a Sith?" The girl asked, giving him a curious little glance.

"I was, but not anymore." Maul answered. He did not really want to touch that topic, not with her, with all of them.

"Stand still, bin!" Meanwhile the Lasat, Zeb, and the droid that the crew had tried to hide from Maul's sight, had entered the room, and Maul could now understand why. The Lasat had a can wedged in the ear and two more in one hand. With the other he kept the droid still and was preparing to kill it out of cans on the head. The droid instead emitted sounds that Maul couldn't translate in any way.

As soon as they realized they had company, the two fighters stopped, moving away from each other. Zeb made a slight growl, dropping the cans on the floor and trying desperately to get the jammed thing off his ear. Instead, the droid went near Sabine, emitting other sounds that vaguely resembled a small chuckle. Strange for a droid...

"Darth Maul, I have heard of you, the story of Mandalore depicts you as a great leader." The girl continued, and from this Maul understood that she was a Mandalorian. "You are the Zabrak who managed to bring peace to my world or at least set the stage for peace, then you disappeared... out of nowhere." Everyone thought you were dead."

Everyone now stood to attention, listening curiously.

"I didn't think I became famous." Joked the Zabrak, trying to distract them from the delicate subject that was his past.

"You did a lot for your people, but there was someone else with you, another Zabrak..." She began to remember him from the few information she had read about him.

Maul knew it. The fateful question was about to arrive. He couldn't bear such a great emotion and he hoped with all of his might, that they would change topic.

Before Sabine could remember the name of the Zabrak, Hera interrupted them. Perhaps Maul's prayers had been answered. "The Empire is sending a message, it's on all channels!" She said in panic.

The Twi'lek switched on the transmitter and a voice began speaking. The hologram was the symbol of the Empire. "People of Lothal, it is the special agent Kallus who speaks to you. Recently an enemy of the empire has been identified." The image of Maul appeared and everyone could see it.

Maul felt his hearts stop for a moment. By now they had discovered him, and they wanted to capture him at all costs.

"This Zabrak is a criminal who was thought dead, but recent events have shown that he is still alive and active on Lothal, whoever manages to capture him will be rewarded with a total sum of fifty thousand credits" The image shifted back to normal and Kallus' voice continued to speak. "Citizens of Lothal, help us capture this criminal for your own good and the good of the Empire."

Without saying anything else, the communication was interrupted and everyone remained staring at the gap for who knows how much time. Now everything would have been much more difficult. Maul wondered if they would now deliver him to Kallus. The Zabrak knew that the crew needed money, he was starting to doubt them. All of them.

Kanan, sensing his anxiet, approached him and told him. "Now you're part of the crew, you don't have to worry, we will not betray you." The Jedi said. He had also remembered that during their first meeting Maul had told him he did not trust them and thought they would send him to the Empire in exchange for money. "I do not know what happened to you that made you so pessimistic, but trust us." Kanan concluded, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Maul looked at his face, seeing his steady gaze. The Jedi was not lying. Turning to the other members of the Phantom, he could see and distinguish similar looks. Nobody wanted to betray him. He couldn't understand their reason. They had no reason to protect him.

Maul was convinced that after he had finished his usefulness, these rebels would sell him. As Sidious had done in the past abandoning him. Perhaps that had been an isolated case. Sidious was different from them.

Sabine stood up and approached Maul, smiling at him. "Now you are officially famous." She said jokingly.

Everyone laughed remembering events that were now only the past. They had to think about present.

"So, what do we do now?" Asked Ezra. The boy was right. They couldn't stay there long.

"I know of some rebel bases on Yavin IV, we have to try to get over the naval block, then we'll be safe on that planet." Hera said.

Easier said than done...

~xXx~

Almost a week had passed since Maul's coverage had failed. But they were doing quite well, the Zabrak had managed to effectively camouflage himself in public so they would not recognize him. Merit of his hood and decades of undercover work for Sidious when he was still his apprentice.

Maul heard what they had promised. Kanan had approached him and, with a hand on his shoulder, reassured him that they would protect him because he was now part of the crew. But Maul was still skeptical, he didn't know who to trust.

His Master had taught him that the Jedi were evil. And, although Plagueis had helped him after the abandonment and the wound, the mentality that Sidious had imposed on him still continued to play with his convictions. This was not good at all.

Anyways, the Imperials had calmed down a little. After about 7 days, almost 8, of total absence of rebel activity, and above all of a certain Zabrak, now they were literally turning their thumbs.

Maul, Kanan, and Sabine were hidden in the shadow of a lane that overlooked the main street of Lothal. Lately they used underground tunnels, which the boy knew, to go back and forth from the city and return with the necessary supplies and food.

Now they had cross exactly the square to go to a cantina where they had an appointment with a friend of Sabine, they were searching a technology that masked the signal of the ship and passed it for an Imperial ship.

Kanan turned as he popped up from the street corner to check the situation. "The area is not as guarded as we expected, we can do it." He said encouragingly.

Sabine rolled her eyes and moved closer to the human to check herself. "He's right, and if we move quickly but easily, they will not notice us."

Maul made a grimace of disapproval from under the hood, but it went unnoticed by his companions. "Do you know how to exercise a mental trick?" He asked the former Jedi.

Kanan looked at him almost offended. "Of course I can do it." Maul was not entirely convinced, but he let it go. "But first let's do it the old way. What do you think?"

Maul eyed him from under the hood. "All right, but if everything goes wrong..."

"You can tell me 'I told you so' if everything goes wrong, but later." Kanan answered, his voice stern.

The three of them walked slowly and casually through the square. Trying, as much as possible, not to get attention and after a few minutes they had crossed the whole square to the cantina where they entered.

The cantina was a mix of colored lights. The smell of alcohol invaded the nostrils of the three rebels, who ignored it and started following Sabine. His friend was a Bothan. Sabine had often talked about him to the crew and they had already met him a couple of times. For Maul it was the first time though.

The Bothan's name was Yard Mendir and he had already helped them in the past. From how they talked about him before this mission, they seemed to trust him. The Bothan had many contacts with the rebels and provided them with technologies or permissions that they could not otherwise get.

"Hi guys." The Bothan screamed. He alone emanated a scent of alcohol that expanded a few meters around him. The eyes of the hairy alien were gray and half-closed, but if he could still keep himself upright, then he probably was not totally gone.

"What can I do for you? Come and have a drink with me!" He said raising his arm and gesturing towards the waiter who, for just a moment, looked at him strangely. Eventually he realized he had to bring more beer to the Bothan's friends and walked away to the counter for the order.

"We're not here to have a good time." Kanan said dryly, banging his hand on the table, trying to make the alien focus on him. "We need a shielding device." He said in a flat tone.

"Ah yes, I can get it, of course, but what do I gain?" The Bothan said, lolling back and forth on the chair, his hairy mustache followed in slow-motion movements.

"We've got credits." Maul immediately intervened. Not knowing Yard and his prices. Yard looked at him from below, towards the other with an offended look.

"And who are you?" After a few seconds he asked, Yard to drained all the glass of beer.

Meanwhile the waiter Twi'lek had returned with three more glasses and placed them on the table without saying a word so as not to interrupt the conversation. Turning back, he left as he had arrived.

"He is Reddie, he's my... cousin." Sabine immediately said without thinking. Maul looked at her from under the hood and began to sweat cold.

"Uh uh ... interesting." Yard continued. Meanwhile some Imperial guards had entered the bar. There was no more time and Maul lost his patience.

The Zabrak raised his hand up to the height of the Bothan's face and moving it in front of him, he said the words well. "You will give us the masking device, now." He said in a tone that made Kanan's blood freeze. The Jedi didn't approve of what the Zabrak had done, but he had to admit that there was no more time left.

"I will give you the masking device, now." Repeated Yard in a confused, sleepy tone. He got up from the table, leaving more credits than necessary and walked towards the cantina's exit. Wobbly legs that barely supported him in his state.

"Can you do it?" Sabine whispered to the Jedi who snorted and looked up at the sky annoyed. Sabine giggled and approached "her cousin" to nudge him on the side. She was too low to get to the ribs unfortunately.

"You are good, you know?" She told Reddie as they followed the Bothan some distance away so as to not arouse suspicion. Yard was leading them to a dark, narrow street with glimmers of opaque light coming from the windows of the houses.

"Thank you." He simply answered him without going into details. The tone did not admit other replies. He knew that she wanted to know more about him, but it was painful for Maul to talk about his past.

Sabine realized that her friend was in a bad mood and said nothing, simply appreciating the silence and they continued to walk side by side.

The Bothan turned the corner and took some keys from his pocket, opening the door, entering what was presumably his home and closing the door behind him. Sabine started to open the door but Kanan put a hand on her shoulder and the girl stopped on the spot looking upwards, meeting the eyes of the human.

"He will come back." He simply said. And in fact, after a few more seconds, the door opened again and the Bothan came out with his eyes almost completely closed and holding the masking device.

Maul took it and slipped it into the shoulder bag he always carried with him. Yard began to stagger on the spot and then fell forward. If Kanan had not taken him, the alien would have found himself on the ground with a broken nose, at least.

Meanwhile, a patrol turned the corner and glimpsed the unconscious Bothan held up by Kanan. "Hey, you!" One of the soldiers said.

"Damn! Help me!" Kanan said to Maul. The Zabrak took Yard's feet and the two began to transport him home. Sabine, however, remained out trying not to seem worried at all and that everything was normal and under control.

The Imperials approached, the opaque lights coming from the windows of the surrounding houses, lightly shining the helmets of the three soldiers.

"Miss." He called the Mandaloriana leaning against the wall of the building, trying to stay as much as possible in the darkness to prevent the soldiers from noticing her uniform decorated with symbols of the rebellion. "It's all under control." She continued when Maul and Kanan finished arranging the Bothan on the bed.

"Yard is a friend of ours who had called us ten minutes ago to take him home... he does not hold alcohol well." She said making them look in from the entrance door.

"I can smell it even from under my helmet." One of the soldiers said in a nauseated tone. The other two nodded, patting Maul's shoulders, who adjusted his hood better and Kanan smiled at the soldier trying to look tired but satisfied with his work.

The Imperials left without seeming to suspect anything and turned the corner again without looking back to check.

The three rebels breathed a sigh of relief that they didn't realize they were holding. They'd been lucky this time, otherwise it would have been trouble if the soldiers had checked in the Zabrak's backpack.

The fact is that they had got away and walked towards the center of the city. They passed the square and returned to the tunnel from which they had emerged a few hours ago. They entered, without being noticed by anyone in the darkness of the night and set off towards freedom.

~xXx~

In the end it had been simple. They had obtained the masking device. Now they could leave Lothal once and for all.

The crew had also learned, in all this, that Maul was also a great mechanic. With the assistance of Chopper, he had successfully installed the device in just under thirty minutes and now the Phantom was ready to go.

"I didn't know you could even do these things, and very well." Said Hera, she sat in the driver's seat as usual and was lighting up the ship's engines and checking all the systems a bit.

Maul sat down next to her and took the hood off his head, revealing it, for the second time that day, his red face with black tattoos crowned with horns. "There are many things about me that you do not know yet."

"Oh really?" Hera asked with a smile on her lips. She turned to Maul and asked. "And when will you show us your other cards up your sleeve?"

"All in due time, I don't want to ruin the surprise." He said looking ahead and enjoying for the last time the night landscape of Lothal. The tops of the hills were lit by a soft and opaque moonlight. In the tall grass, among the plants, one could see the Loth cats running and playing.

Seeing them, Hera remembered a small thing that had happened during the absence of Specter 1 and Specter 7. "Before leaving..." She said jumping up and reaching for the Zabrak. "I want to show you something."

"Hm?" Maul didn't know what it was, but he still took Hera's hand in his and got up, following her into the corridor to the entrance of his quarters.

"We found it on your bed while you were off ship." She said opening the door and entering inside. Maul followed her again and found it difficult to understand what she was talking about, then he saw it. A shiny white-eyed Loth cat was curled up on his bed and looked at the two newcomers with a curious look. "He likes your smell." Hera said, observing the animal.

"How do you know, and why is he still on board, on my bed?" Zabrak inquired.

"You know, a Loth cat could be useful to us, if he still wants to stay here." Hera said, alternately observing the cat first and then again Reddie.

"Useful to us? How could it help us?" Reddie said. Soon after, he didn't even have time to finish the sentence that the Loth cat jumped on him and climbed up on his shirt, with his claws, to rest his head on Maul's shoulder. He raised a hand and placed it on the back of the animal who lifted his tail wrapping it gently around Maul's wrist. With his other hand he gave caresses behind its ear and the cat answered with satisfied purrs and happy meows.

"I don't mean for missions, just as a pet, and I'm pretty sure he already knows who his master is." Hera said, looking at the scene, amused.

Maul understood her words and sat down on the bed. The cat immediately got out and settled comfortably on Maul's legs, closing his eyes but continuing to purr. Maul continued to caress him gently on the head.

"Don't you think he needs a name?" Hera asked, sitting down next to him.

"Yeah." He said, watching the cat curled up on his legs. It had never happened to him, to have to name something. Except when he enjoyed building droids, but the name he gave them was related to their specific characteristics. This time he simply had to give a name to an animal. He thought about it for a few minutes and then said.

"Moon."

He had remembered the Moonstone. A white stone with wonderful opalescences. It is also said that this stone helps to have lucid dreams, gives intuition and promotes good memory.

"It's a beautiful name." Hera had to take off the ship, then got up, giving the feline a quick caress and left the room. Shortly after that, the crew could hear her voice through the ship's transmitter. "Okay guys, it's time to go, get in. Next destination: Yavin 4." And the ship took off, undisturbed by naval block. Hera opened a window in the hyper space and left Lothal for good.

~xXx~

When they arrived on Yavin 4, the crew got off the ship and headed for the base. Other people came to meet them, including Senator Mon Mothma and Bail Organa.

"Welcome." She greeted them. Then she turned to the new crew member and reached out a hand. "You must be Maul." She asked.

Maul greeted the senator, shaking her hand and answering. "Exactly."

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, you'll be fine with us, now you're officially part of the rebellion." She said, smiling at him. In that moment, Maul wanted to ignore all the strange looks he received from the people and simply followed his friends into the base.

Could he call them friends? He still did not know, but he liked thinking that they were. In the future he would see with certainty whether or not he could consider them as such, but now it was fine.

He followed the senators without looking back. From that moment on Maul had become a rebel.