Emerging from the pawnshop, Maul witnessed chaos. Smoking bodies littered the Bazaar, and any survivors were fleeing from the din of battle that reached his ears. He glanced up, and watched a ginormous grey blot dominate the seaweed-hued skies of Nal Hutta. It was a Star Destroyer, and smaller craft flitted from the glowing slits in its side.

Which meant the Empire was here. He strode through the marketplace, the smell of death rich and electrifying. He no longer idly tapped his walking stick, instead marching purposefully towards the source of the disturbance. The Jedi duo were pinned down by a platoon of white-armored soldiers, deflecting blasterfire as they stood back to back. The whirling twin shafts of azure light were a beacon, and soon Maul was close enough to begin his own attack.

He dug his saber from within his walking stick, and ignited it. Both ends spat out sizzling plasma, and he surged forward, his double-bladed saber twirling. The crimson lightshow was a flurry of slashes and strikes as Maul cut through the ranks of the stormtroopers. Their attention was divided, and the Jedi and the Force Wielder took full advantage of it.

Despite their numbers, the bucketheads were no match for the Force users. A prolonged thrum sounded, rising and falling, overlaying with the cries of pain and final whimpers from all who were cut down by Maul. He wore a dark smirk as he spun his lightsaber, beheading three stormtroopers in one go. The noise died down, and he took in the results. Surrounding him and the Jedi were slumping troopers, with lightsaber gashes on them where they'd been stabbed or slashed.

Kanan turned to Maul, irritation shifting his features into an scowl. He demanded, "Where've you been?", not bothering to mask the suspicion in his tone.

"I made a detour," Maul said simply.

"A detour." Kanan scoffed. "Are you kidding me? Run off like that again, and I'll make sure to put you in a cell you won't leave anytime ever."

Maul responded, "Now, now... let's not make promises none of us will keep."

Kanan's hand twitched. "Don't test my patience. What were you even doing during this 'detour' of yours?"

"Nothing that'd compromise your Rebellion."

The Jedi jogged past Maul down the ramp, with the others following. "Spectre 2, come in. Do you read me, Spectre 2? We have the package."

"You got what you wanted, then," observed the Zabrak.

"Yeah." Ezra rubbed his neck. "But our informant got killed in the crossfire after the bucketheads cornered us."

Maul made a noncommital noise, and continued on. Kanan stopped, huffing in frustration. "They're not responding," he told Ezra.

"I'm sure they're okay. Besides, we should worry about ourselves." A series of high-pitched whines filled the air. Kanan, Ezra and Maul looked over to see speeder bikes swoop in, troopers hop off them and then take off to circle back around.

Maul reignited his lightsaber a split second before the Jedi did. He drew the humming beam of red closer to his wrist. Kanan caught on and reached for the remote in his pouch, the only chance he'd have of bringing Maul under control.

"Maul..." he warned. "Don't even think about it. Unless you're a fan of shocking surprises, don't mess with them."

Maul threw Kanan a death glare. "Do you sincerely expect me to fight without being able to use the Force? By all means, hinder me. By all means, restrain me. By all means, stop me. But then I can't say we will have any chance of escaping."

Ezra chimed in, "Kanan, there's a Star Destroyer hanging over our heads - literally. It's the three of us going up against whatever it's going to throw at us." He gave Maul a meaningful look. "I say let him at them."

"Us? There is no 'us'. I'm not even sure we're all on the same side."

Plastoid boots pattered as stormtroopers rushed towards them, and the battle renewed.

Spinning his saberstaff, Maul deflected blaster shots back at the Imperials. "We're wasting time. Make up your mind, Jedi."

Kanan swiped his saber to knock a driver off his speeder bike with a redirected shot. The unmanned vehicle crashed into a pair of troopers and swallowed them up in a ball of fire. "Fine. But once this is over - once we're in the clear - they're going back on. Got it?" With a wave of Kanan's hand, Maul's manacles split open with a snap and drifted over to the ponytailed man.

Maul wasted not a moment leaping towards the barrage, short strokes and wide swings making the blades a blur of red shielding his body. With his off hand, he reached out with the Force and made a pincer motion. The closest trooper floated and gagged, unable to continue firing as he pawed at his neck frantically. Maul used the human puppet to absorb four laser rounds and then it went limp.

The corpse cannoned into another trooper, knocking him down, and Maul's saber sliced through his neck. A sudden wave of power slammed everyone facing Maul into the muck.

Speeder bikes zoomed towards Maul, and he sensed the Jedi close in to deflect their shots. The older Jedi dodged a sweeping bike, cleaving it in two. Ezra threw what remained of it into a trio of stormtroopers and moved in to finish them.

Maul ducked out of the path of two more bikes, and he waved a hand to drag one over to the other. The bikes crashed and spun end over end before exploding. He and the Jedi mopped up the stormtroopers until Kanan Force summoned a relatively intact speeder bike. "We need to get back to the Phantom. Ezra, with me."

Ezra complied and Maul got another bike for himself. They took off and shortly then screaming TIE fighters hurtled towards them, discharged green bolts at the retreating rebels and the Zabrak.

"Ezra, you know what to do!" Kanan shouted as Ezra brought up his lightsaber to cast away the TIEs' blasts. The TIEs screamed overhead before circling back around. More biker Imperials were on his tail, and Maul dropped back behind them to discharge a volley. He banked right, then left to avoid the flaming ruins of metal.

"They're really going all out, aren't they? What's even the point of sending TIEs after us?"

Kanan gunned the throttle even more and he and Ezra were shooting over the ground and past the swamps. Ezra's grip around Kanan's midsection tightened. "Dunno. Why don't you ask them? They're coming right at us, after all."

Maul flung his saberstaff upwards and it zipped through the air, flipping end over end. It found its target, severing the left wing of a TIE fighter. The ship wobbled dangerously, its side sparking and trailing smoke, for a few seconds until it plummeted. Maul caught his lightsaber deftly, all the while driving.

Ezra watched with wide eyes full of awe. It was hard not to be impressed. "Whoa."

The Phantom was being guarded by bucketheads, so Ezra and Kanan dealt with them quickly. Agent Kallus saw Maul pull up, and opened fire on the Zabrak. Maul casually deflected the shots, and shoved the agent aside with the might of the Force. The whirl of his saber was a steady rhythm, punctuated by the crackling of bolts being cast back at the swooping TIE.

A line of green streaked at the web-shaped cockpit, shattering the glass and killing the pilot. The shrieking TIE nosedived, spinning out of control. "It's coming right for us!" yelled Ezra over the noise.

Maul held his hand out and concentrated. He called on the Force, deepened his rage. He felt himself gaining strength. Enough strength to halt the TIE. It was then he felt something else. Someone else. Kanan copied Maul's stance, gazing at the levitating starfighter.

Reinforcements flew overhead, and the same idea clicked in Kanan's and Maul's minds. They pushed in unison, and the TIE smashed into two others. "Get on board," Kanan ordered. "We're leaving."

The cockpit of the Phantom contained a hustle of activity as Kanan powered up the ship and it ascended while under blasterfire. " - ectre 1! Spectre 1, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Spectre 2," said the Jedi, relieved. "We have the package, but the Imps are onto us."

"We're coming by to pick you up - "

"No, don't. The Destroyer'll blow you outta the sky. Let's meet at these coordinates, instead." Kanan punched in numbers in the onboard computer and sent the location to Hera.

"Copy that, Spectre 1. Spectre 2 out."

The Phantom corkscrewed out of the way of laserfire and flew upwards. "Making the jump to hyperspace."

Once they were in hyperspace, Kanan did what he knew would put his mind at ease: he confiscated Maul's saber and snapped the manacles back on.

After that, Maul sulked in the back of the shuttle. The cockpit was swamped with the uniform, eerie glow of hyperspace. Kanan remained in the pilot's seat, and Ezra went to check up on Maul. The Sith slouched against the wall, eyes unfocused.

Ezra regarded the Zabrak quietly. "You fight with anger, young one. I cannot say I don't approve," Maul broke the silence. "I sensed it in you when we fought off the Empire's servants."

"Fighting in anger is not the Jedi way," Ezra countered.

"Perhaps then it is the wrong way to go about things."

Crossing his arms, Ezra glared. "I don't need to hear philosophy from a Sith."

"And yet here you are, with me, not with your master. What do you want?" Maul didn't bother correcting Ezra that he was no longer a Sith. Kanan glanced at them from his position, but said nothing.

The boy hesitated. "As a Sith you've probably committed stars know how mant acts of evil. That's what Kanan told me. He also said..."

"That they're 'evil'?" A nod from Ezra.

Maul wrinkled his nose. "Good or evil is merely a point of view, young Jedi. Regardless, I hold no loyalty to the Sith. Never have for a long time. The Sith ripped me from my mother's arms, murdered my brother," Ezra gave a minute flinch, "used me as a weapon and then cast me aside." His golden gaze met Ezra's blue one. "Everything I ever had, I lost it because of the Sith." He looked off to the side. "Once, I had power... now I have nothing. Nothing."

Ezra felt a marble lodge in his throat. He swallowed it down. "I know. I know what it's like, losing family."

Maul watched him carefully. Should he tell him? "I lost... I lost my mother and my father to the Empire. They took them away from me."

Maul leaned forward. "And you want revenge."

"That's what you fight for, right?" Ezra flipped the tables on Maul; this wasn't supposed to be about him. He was trying to figure the Zabrak out, not give him an opening to press Ezra for further information.

"What do you think?" was the impassive response. "Hm, I suppose true evil does exist. But I am not it, despite what you may imagine, despite your obvious distrust."

"Like you've given us any real reason to trust you," Kanan interjected, towering over Ezra and Maul.

"Are you still on about me 'running off'?"

"Duh, gramps. It makes you look suspicious. Maybe you snuck off to warn the Imps about me and Ezra? To give them a little heads-up?"

"I'd already said it was nothing that would put your Rebellion at risk. Just settling a personal matter."

"What kind of personal matter?"

"Ah-ah. Personal means personal. Which means you don't get to know about it."

Kanan tightened his jaw. "Don't push me."

"Or else what?" Maul stood up, getting right up in Kanan's face. "Go on. Show your apprentice how much of a Jedi you really are." Kanan's eyes flashed with danger. Maul smirked at Kanan. Damn you, thought the survivor of Order 66.

"Cool it, guys. Kanan, why don't you, uh, check if we're almost there yet? Maul, quit trying to provoke Kanan." Ezra sent his master a pulse of reassurance through their bond, and Maul resumed sulking as Kanan went to do as Ezra suggested.

It didn't take long for them to reunite with the rest of Spectre cell. They'd dropped out of hyperspace, and the Ghost had been already waiting. Maul scuttled off to his private quarters, undesiring any company at present time. Kanan went away with Ahsoka to report their mission and hand her the recovered datachip.

So that left Ezra with nothing but time to kill. Kanan came by not ten minutes later, telling his Padawan Ahsoka wanted to speak with him, too. Ezra slid off the bed hesitantly. "Uh... okay."

Kanan sensed Ezra's uncertainty. "Relax, you're not in any trouble. Now get going, it wouldn't do to keep our Commander waiting."

A brisk stride down the weaving corridors led Ezra to Ahsoka, and the door hissed shut behind him. "Ahsoka? Kanan said you wanted to ask me something?"

"Yes, come in. I just wanted to hear your take on your most recent mission."

"Didn't Kanan tell you everything already?"

Ahsoka raised a hand for silence. "He did. But now I'd like to hear it from you, please." So he told her. A concise account, with as little in the way of pauses or tangents as possible. This was making Ezra uncomfortable. He was not usually asked for mission reports.

Ahsoka steepled her fingers. "I see," she enunciated slowly. "Kanan also said something along those lines." Her countenance became pensive, reserved.

"Ahsoka?"

"What are your impressions of Maul?"

Ezra considered. What did he think of Maul? The Zabrak was incredibly good at fighting. He was an experienced Force wielder. He did not hesitate to take lives. His skills were, frankly, terrifying. Ezra shivered. He was relieved the Dathomirian was not their enemy. He had a nagging thought at the back of his mind, that they had yet to see the full extent of his abilities.

What was he like as a person, though? "He's... I don't know what to think of him. I mean, I get it. He's a Sith. I shouldn't trust him. And I don't. But... it feels weird," Ezra screwed up his face, "keeping him prisoner. Because he is a prisoner, isn't he? Just one with very odd conditions."

"Do you feel like you could trust him?"

"I... don't know. I'm sorry. I'm not being helpful with these answers, am I?" He was genuinely on the fence about wanting to trust Maul.

"It's alright," promised Ahsoka, patience reverberating throughout her words. "This entire scenario is 'unorthodox', as Kanan likes to remind me."

Ezra frowned. "He still wants Maul gone."

"That's one way of putting it."

"Y'know, it's nice when people listen to me, but - why'd you agree to keep Maul on the ship?" Ezra cocked his head, staring at Ahsoka curiously.

"As opposed to an execution or a space walk?" Ahsoka knitted her eyemarkings together. "You know why."

"But what's the real reason?"

"You'll find out soon enough. But Ezra, no matter what, always be wary of Maul. Don't underestimate him."

The calm sweep of his cape as he strode across the mud and dirt was a steep contrast to the simmering fury that rolled off of the Sith Lord in waves. He regarded the ISB Agent. "You have failed the Empire, Agent Kallus. If you fail, you are of no use to me."

Kallus floated up into the air, hacking and gagging as Vader, gauntleted hand outstretched, began to Force choke him. "You failed to recover the Imperial shipyard plans. Your death will suffice for your failure." Black spots danced across Kallus' field of vision and he thrashed, kicking out with his feet wildly.

"Gghhk... not - my fault...!" pleaded Kallus hoarsely.

"The lack of competence and lack of coordination of resources was on your behalf. Do you expect me to believe it was anything but your fault?" Vader tightened his grip on Kallus' throat to make his point.

"There... was... a redblade...! Milo - ack! - my lord, there... a redblade helped... Jedi..." Vader actually paused. Strange last words from a dying man. Although...

He reached out to verify, and it brushed against him, poisonous threads thrumming at his mental shields. The Dark Side. Traces of it lingered around Darth Vader. Whoever this Dark Wielder was, he certainly stamped quite the impression in the Force. The towering black figure dropped Kallus, and the man landed with a crash. Kallus vainly tried to catch his breath. Vader's respirator hissed in and out cyclically.

"Explain," commanded the Dark Lord's deep basso voice.

"My lord, the rebels sent their Jedi to meet with the infiltrator. But there was another with them. He carried a red doublebladed weapon, and he - he looked like a demon. Face painted red and black, horns all over his scalp..."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes, milord." Kallus refrained from flinching in front of his lordship.

Vader processed the information, turning it over in his mind. There could only be one whose appearance matched that description.