Chapter Two
The A-wing dropped out of hyperspace with a rattle and the blue-white tunnel disappeared. Glancing out of his cockpit, Ezra saw an extensive field of asteroids ahead. Gunning the throttle, he brought the fighter closer to the field, scanning his sensors for a navigation beacon of any kind.
Finding none, he let go of the sensor panel and closed his eyes, letting himself fall into the Force. Calming his mind the way Kanan had taught him, Ezra let the Great Energy surround him and guide him. Eyes still closed, he grasped the pilot's yoke and turned it starboard. Feeling the starfighter change course, Ezra continued to remain in his trance and felt a sudden compunction to accelerate. Trusting his Force instinct, he pushed down on the throttle and the A-Wing surged forward. Letting the ship fly, Ezra stayed immersed in the Force, feeling calm, calmer than he had felt in months.
It occurred to him that he hadn't used his anger to summon the Force to him for this task. The technique for locating something hidden through Force guidance was a Jedi one that Kanan had shown him and was one of the few Jedi abilities that the Sith Holocron hadn't spoken about. As he pondered that, the A-Wing's proximity alarms began to blare and Ezra snapped his eyes open to see a large asteroid hanging before him in the distance and growing larger with each second.
Unlike the other metallic rocks that drifted in this system, this asteroid, long, narrow and curving had clear signs of sentient occupancy. A trio of large hangar bays had been carved out of the asteroid's external surface, at the central dip of the U-shaped terrene. Maneuvering the A-Wing towards the center hangar, Ezra spotted a large starfighter of unfamiliar design docked at one of the airlock ports beneath the hangar's magcon field.
As he tried to mentally place the vessel's class he noticed the red-and-black paint job on the fighter and it clicked that this was the ship Maul had used to attack the Beldon. The A-Wing slid through the faint blue haze of the hangar's containment field and as Ezra looked around for a place to land the fighter, he spotted a very familiar VCX-100 light freighter parked on the far side of the hangar.
Ezra's eyes darted over the Ghost's exterior as he completed his landing sequence and was pleased to see that there were no obvious signs of damage on the freighter as there had been with the Hammerhead. The Ghost wasn't just a ship to Ezra. It was his home, the only home he'd known in the years since he'd abandoned his tower refuge on Lothal.
Popping the canopy on his fighter, Ezra climbed out onto the surface of the starfighter, the Sith Holocron secure in his hip-pouch. Staring out across the wide hangar, he spotted a tall, dark-attired figure standing near the Ghost. A figure with a red-and-black tattooed face.
His whole body tensing with anger, Ezra quickly leapt off the fighter and landed on the deck. Squaring his shoulder, he stalked over to Maul, his hand hovering near the hilt of his lightsaber. As he approached the former Sith Lord, Ezra took in Maul's appearance. The Zabrak had replaced the dark rags he'd worn on Malachor with a simple black tunic. His matte-black mechanical legs seemed much more robust and gleamed in the bright overhead hangar lights. His lightsaber hung from a hook on his belt and his yellow eyes gazed at Ezra with cunning malice.
"Welcome, my young apprentice," Maul said as Ezra drew closer, his gaze focused on the small brown pouch at Ezra's hip.
"I trust you found the Sith Holocron illuminating?"
Ezra glared at the Dark-Sider, "Where are my friends?"
An amused smile crossed Maul's tattooed visage.
"All in good time, my young apprentice. All in good time."
Ezra shook with rage at the condescending dismissal and he began to reach out to the Force with his burning anger, calling to the Great Energy, demanding that it suffuse him. He felt the familiar electric surge of invisible power flow into him, sharpening his senses and strengthening his body.
"No!" he shouted.
Maul raised a single eyebrow at the enraged outburst.
Ezra entire body trembled with his restrained anger and he gave the former Sith Lord a furious glower.
"You said you'd let my friends go if I brought you the Sith Holocron. So, take me to them. Now!"
Maul let out an amused laugh, the sound reverberating about the cavernous hangar.
"Your anger has made you bold, apprentice."
His low, sibilant voice sounded somewhat impressed.
"But, you have forgotten that you are the Apprentice…and not the Master."
Ezra paused for a single moment, wanting nothing more than to ignite his lightsaber and leap at Maul.
Reserve your anger for moments when you can profit from it.
Assuming a look of contrition that he had mastered over two years of Jedi apprenticeship, Ezra bowed his head.
"Forgive me, Master," he said in what he knew was a very convincing tone of humility. Reaching down, he pulled the Sith Holocron out of his pocket and held it in front of him with both hands, as if presenting an offering to a king.
Maul smiled and took the Holocron from Ezra's hands. The young man raised his head back up and saw the former Sith staring at the pyramid-shaped artifact, it's translucent sides and golden edging gleaming in the hangar lights. Maul's citrine eyes widened in awe and he ran his fingers along the ancient artifact.
Telling himself that Maul was distracted as he would ever be, Ezra reached out with all his anger, summoning every bit of energy he could muster and thrust both hands outwards, hurling all of his power in a single, concentrated telekinetic blast aimed straight at Maul.
The Zabrak was caught completely off-guard and was thrown backwards, as if struck by an invisible runaway speeder. Seizing the opportunity, the only opportunity he knew he'd get, Ezra snatched his lightsaber off his belt, ignited the brilliant emerald blade with a snap-hiss and leapt with all his might. Soaring through the air, Ezra aimed his leap to come down where Maul had come to a halt and brought his blade down in a double-handed strike at the downed Dark-Sider.
And missed completely. Maul moved from his prone position faster than Ezra thought possible, rolling well out of the lightsaber's range. Swinging his lightsaber back up to guard, Ezra saw Maul spring to his feet in a single fluid motion and unhook his own lightsaber, the scarlet blade crackling to life with a chilling snap-hiss.
"Most impressive, apprentice," Maul said, "Most impressive indeed."
Ezra snarled in anger at the Zabrak's seemingly unflappable demeanour and charged, his blade lifted high in the Djem So stance he'd learned from Kanan's Jedi Holocron. Coming into range in seconds, Ezra slashed down hard with a two-handed strike that was the hallmark of Form V.
And missed again.
Maul ducked smoothly out of the way of Ezra's furious attack, sidestepping the attack completely.
"You have power," Maul allowed, his own weapon still hanging low at his side.
Ezra snarled and slashed again, this time laterally, hoping to cut Maul in half. The Zabrak simply took a single, long step backwards and the viridescent blade swung through empty air, hitting nothing. Summoning more power through his rage, Ezra rushed forward, weaving his blade in a three-move Shii-Cho attack pattern, striking low, then at Maul's left shoulder and then thrusting straight ahead to impale the Dark-Sider.
Maul simply leapt over the first strike, sidestepped the second and then, with sudden speed, deflected the third, knocking Ezra's lightsaber back with a single, brutal parry.
"But you have no technique," Maul said with a more serious note in his voice now, "Do not worry, my apprentice. I will remedy that deficiency in time."
And then he moved, advancing on Ezra with his scarlet blade raised in an attack stance that Ezra had never seen before. Taking a step backwards, Ezra raised his lightsaber in the Form III Soresu style that Kanan had shown him, and then shifted his blade hastily as Maul attacked.
The former Sith moved with such speed and agility that Ezra could barely react in time. Maul slashed at Ezra's legs and the young Jedi swung his blade down to deflect the strike and stumbled as Maul withdrew his blade in a blur and slashed at Ezra's right shoulder. The Padawan spun away, barely evading the super-heated energy blade's bite.
A smirk crossed Maul's face and he continued to advance.
"This game has been amusing," the Zabrak allowed, "But we have places to go, apprentice, and things to do."
With a flick of his wrist, Maul activated his lightsaber's second blade and held the double-bladed weapon before him in both hands.
Ezra took another step back and tried not to panic. He'd faced this kind of weapon before and had managed to hold his own. As if he could sense Ezra's fear, Maul let out a single, cruel laugh. Then he charged.
Moving with an agile fluidity that Ezra couldn't hope to match, Maul twirled his blade a few times and attacked, striking low again. Ezra swung his blade to block and Maul spun his weapon striking up at Ezra's chest. The young man moved his blade to block as fast as he could, and Maul spun his body and slashed at Ezra's face. The Padawan swung his blade up to parry and hit nothing as Maul withdrew with incredible speed and slashed a long, shallow gash along Ezra's right thigh.
"Aghhhh!" the boy screamed, nearly dropping his saber in pain. Maul twirled his blade and before Ezra could master his pain to react, he swept the scarlet blade along Ezra's right arm, slashing deeper this time and drawing the blade right up to Ezra's wrist.
"Aghhhh!" Ezra howled again, this time dropping his saber completely and clutching at his injured arm in pain.
Drawing back, Maul lashed out with a single mechanical leg in an amazingly high kick, catching Ezra right in the jaw and sending his entire body flying up in the air. The young man's teeth slammed together with extreme force and he felt something crack in his mouth. As he flew into the air, he felt an invisible force grab him and instead of falling back to the ground, he lay suspended in the air for a moment. Then he was hurled to the ground back-first with bone-cracking force.
Another yell of pain tore from his mouth and before he could cry out again, he was jerked up into the air by the invisible hand again, turned over and slammed down into the cold hard metal of the hangar deck. He felt something break in his mouth and then he was thrown into the air and hurled down one more time, with even more force than before. He heard something snap in his body and a fresh wave of agony tore through his frame.
He didn't move again after that and the invisible hand seemed to have let him go. After a few moments, he felt a hard object slide under his chest and flip him over so he was staring up at the harsh bright lights in the hangar ceiling.
He tried to move, just a little bit, and felt fresh agony blossom all over his body. He could barely even move his limbs. He tasted something tangy and metallic in his mouth, which he recognized to be blood.
Maul's tattooed face came into view above him, the cruel smirk gone from the Zabrak's features, replaced with a sober expression.
"I trust, apprentice, that you have learned a valuable lesson about our partnership?"