Everything had happened so fast. They ran into the Ghost, opened a window in iper-space and ran off. Maul didn't leave Sathego alone not even for a moment. That Twi'lek had been tortured. Maul couldn't even think about it. He was trembling with rage. But he knew that he couldn't snap here. He couldn't lose control. Now he was on the Ghost and for now Sathego was sleeping peacefully with Moon by his side.
That Loth cat was very cuddly. He was curled up near Sathego's face and purring. Sometimes the hairy tail made of small jerks, but nothing more. Moon remained quiet near the Twi'lek. If his master had put him in his bed then he could trust the Twi'lek.
Maul lowered his head and placed it on the mattress. Closed eyes. His head hurt. He just wanted Hera to hurry up and get to Yavin 4. Sathego needed medical care. Meanwhile Moon had approached him, trying to comfort his master. Maul really loved that cat.
Maul wasn't aware that he had fallen asleep, but he was awakened by Sabine. The girl was shaking him by the arm. "Hey. Come on big guy, wake up."
Maul opened his eyes and found himself in front of the girl's rainbow hair. "What...?"
"We've arrived." Silence. Maul looked really tired, so Sabine continues. "On Yavin 4..."
"We've arrived? Oh, okay... yes." Maul turned to the bed, but found it empty. His brain began to panic and began to think the cause the death of the Twi'lek with light green skin.
Moon approached him, licking and rubbing his nose on his hand. Maul returned for a moment, managing to ask. "Sathego... He's...?" He wasn't able to finish the sentence.
Sabine immediately understood what he was asking and immediately answered. "What? No! No! Ehm... Kanan and a group of healers immediately took him away. He was still alive when we arrived and Hera immediately allerted the doctors." Sabine as always was efficient in the answers. So if she didn't tell him Sathego's real condition then it was because the doctors were still visiting the Twi'lek.
He let out a sigh "All right." The Zabrak said and stood up. Moon gave one last affectionate stroke to his master's hand, then stretched meowing. He jumped off the bed and headed for the door, disappearing a moment later.
"Where are you going?" Sabine asked. Maul was also heading for the door. But Sabine knew something was wrong. The posture, the way of walking, even the expression on the Zabrak's face. Something was off.
"Out." Maul said without giving her a glance. He had almost growled at her. He'd never done that. If there was someone with whom the former Sith Darth Maul seemed to get along, it was Sabine.
The girl was left in the ship while the Zabrak came out of the Phantom. It was late outside. The sun had set and the only lights came from the interior lighting of the other parked ships and the laboratories together with the main station of the rebel base.
Maul tried to calm himself in every way. But what had happened had reminded him of... the past.
That Twi'lek reminded him of Zero. He didn't know why. Zero was fantastic, sarcastic and incredibly smart. Sathego had instead was broken and barely breathing at the moment.
Maul didn't know why he was reminded of Zero, or Cog Hive Seven. But it was happening. All of a sudden the torture he had suffered there re-emerged in his mind. Zero had saved him from certain death by drowning. But then he had been killed by a man named Bakari.
The water. Maul was too scared. The thought alone brought him back to those dark times where his Master had forced him to go to Cog Hive Seven. Zero had been his only lifeline. But then he too had been taken away from him. Only pain existed in Maul's life.
Without noticing Maul had clenched his fists. Electric shocks began to form on his arms. He managed to wake up only after a voice. No. A scream. His brain hadn't registered what it was around him. As that human technician approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. But that action had triggered panic in Zabrak.
Maul had awakened from a nightmare. He was sweaty. He could feel the drops of sweat dripping on his temples. He raised a trembling hand, other small bursts of lightning were generated. Maul clenched his fist trying to control himself. Check his emotions. But those years in prison had reached him and now with interest. Here's what made him similar to Sathego. Both were wounded.
Maul looked up. Ezra had approached him. He had the green lightsaber activated. In front of him. Kanan not far from the padawan, but he hadn't activated his sword. Behind them all the other components of the rebel faction.
"Maul..." It was Ezra who spoke. Slowly Maul laid eyes on the boy. He had lowered his still lit sword with one hand and gesticulated in front of him with the other. Maul looked around again. Rex had the blaster in his hand and pointed it towards him. The others did the same.
"Maul." Kanan had approached. "Lower the lightsaber." Said the Jedi taking his saber in his hand.
"What?" He whispered. Then the Zabrak looked down. He had the dark lightsaber activated and pointed it exactly at the technician he had hit a short time ago. The black blade only a few inches away from the man's neck. When did he take his sword? Maul didn't remember.
Maul's gaze passed from the sword, to the terrified eyes of the technician. Then they settled on another person. Sabine also aimed with her two blasters.
"Drop the weapon Maul." Sabine ordered him.
In the meantime Maul could hear what was happening around him.
"I knew it." A red-haired woman broke into the crowd that had gathered around them.
"We shouldn't have trusted a former Imperial." Another had answered in return.
"He planned to sold us out from the beginning." Maul knew that voice belonged to Zeb. But it wasn't true! He didn't want to do that... he hated the Empire for what was done to him.
"He will kill us all." Xyrusa had talked now.
What? No! Or maybe yes? He was wounded after all. It took little to break him completely. If he continued he could kill them all. He was perfectly capable of it. After all he had been trained for this. The goal of his Master was to make him a kill machine. And unfortunately he had succeeded... and perfectly well.
"I don't think so. We'll kill him first." A Rodian had a blaster in his hand.
"No, wait!" Kanan had shouted. In a second the Rodian had taken aim and fired at Maul. The Zabrak had lowered himself immediately to prevent the bullet from hitting him between his eyes.
Of course, Maul could have reflected the blaster blow and sent it straight into the eyes of his attacker. But he didn't do it. He didn't want to create more damage. Also because he knew something was wrong. Whatever had happened before was returning. Maul knew it. He had to settle this matter first of all.
"Maul."
"Sabine! Get away from him!" Ezra screaming. The girl shook her head and approached the Zabrak, placing the blasters on the ground. Slowly she took the Zabrak's hand and took the sword throwing it behind her. She knew that Kanan or Ezra would immediately recover it with the Force or something.
"Something's wrong. It's coming back..." Maul whispered. His hands had begun to tremble again.
"What are you talking about?" Sabine was confused, but continued to look him in the eye, trying to make him understand that she trusted him. That she wouldn't run away from him.
"Oh God..." Kanan understood.
"What is it?" Ezra asked, approaching his Master to hear what he was saying.
"Ezra, put away the sword."
"I already did." Ezra said, making a sign behind him where he had thrown the dark lightsaber at Rex. The clone had taken it and put it on his belt. Even Rex, however, understood what all that mess was... many clones suffered of it during the clone wars. The clone slowly began to approach.
"I mean yours." Kanan said trying to keep his voice calm and low.
"What?! And why on Earth would-"
"Maul suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." Rex interrupted him. Maul had all the symptoms of the disorder. Confusion. He didn't recognize those in front of him. Sudden mood swings. Sweating. Plus, Rex was quite convinced that they had just witnessed a flashback.
"Yeah. I think so too. And it's not the first time either." Kanan had come closer to Maul.
The Zabrak had begun to tremble again. Suddenly he lifted a hand from which a powerful Force Push came. All those present were thrown against the wall of the neighboring building. Then, without wasting any more time, Maul Force called his lightsaber to him and started running, sending Sabine to the ground with a shove of his shoulder.
Rex got up immediately. He knew what he had to do. And he had to do it fast. Who knows what Maul was seeing at the time. He had to stop him from hurting someone or himself as quickly as possible.
Rex, Kanan and a team that recently arrived to the place by order of Senator Organa. "Blaster set on stunning." He growled. All complied without discussing and started following the Zabrak.
Maul ran. He no longer knew what was real and what was the result of his mind. First he was with Zero in the prison, then Ezra in front of him with his sword activated. The Zabrak didn't understand. There were voices behind him. They ordered him to stop. But he didn't want to listen. He had almost killed a man. He had to control himself. He was powerful. But without control, power is nothing.
He ran as fast as he could. He put his hand on his belt, but couldn't find his sword. Quite right. He had given it to Sabine a little while ago. Or that was Bakari? Maul couldn't understand anything anymore.
He entered the nearest laboratory he could find. The one of communications. "Everybody, out of here!" He growled. Some of the technicians ran out at the exact moment he had spoken. Others were hesitating instead. Without thinking twice, Maul threw them out with the Force and barricaded himself inside.
He was dangerous. They had to stay away from him. If he lost control he was able to kill them all and he didn't want this. He had finally managed to find someone who was fighting for his same reasons. Make the empire pay for all the abuse and injustice it had caused.
Fists pounded against the entrance to the laboratory "Maul! Open the door!" It was Rex, Maul recognized the clone's voice. They were here. They knew he was a threat, he had to escape. But he didn't want to hurt anyone.
He had to find a way to steal a ship and sneak away. Of course, he could take the Phantom, even though he knew that Hera wouldn't be happy about it. Or he could take the Ghost... It was moments like this that Maul wished he had his beloved Scimitar with him. He had seemed to hear Bane long ago that he knew where to find her. Apparently Sidious had kept the ship but replaced his apprentice. Not that bad. Maul was fine with it. "Open up!" Kanan now. Maul had begun to hit every single instrument he could find. Without even noticing. At the moment he was destroying a chair.
Maul heard the sound of activation of a lightsaber, then the smell of burned metal invaded the air. Kanan had started cutting the door open. Maul registered what was happening but couldn't calm down. He still thought of Sidious, of Zero. One of his few friends before death claimed him too.
Maul activated the dark saber. He didn't care anymore. He just had to protect himself. He wanted to escape. The door opened and then everything became a blurr. Laser bullets began to fly against him. Maul reflected them all to the sender. Kanan and Ezra shouted something. Maul could not understand that, but then he saw the clones and the other soldiers walking away from the door.
Maul growled and started walking towards the Jedi. Ezra and Kanan threw him back with a powerful Force push before he could get close. Maul flew straight against the wall. Ezra and Kanan didn't want to face him. The jedi had decided to use the Force and simply hope to make him tired in an attempt to free himself.
A lightning strike struck the two Jedi. Ezra collapsed immediately. It hurt. He couldn't even move a muscle. Kazan too was not having an easy life. Maul had taken him by surprise, but he had had time to parry the lightning shock with his lightsaber.
In the meanwhile they had released him from the Force grip. Maul stood up. The darksaber fisted in one hand, with the other he threw Force lightning towards the Jedi. Kanan managed to move with a half pirouette, activated his lightsaber and launched himself to the Zabrak. Maul lazily raised his darksaber, parrying every blow or lunge that the Jedi sent him. It almost felt like he was playing with Kanan.
Ezra got up, his legs were shaking, the Zabrak's Force lightning was powerful. The arm with which he had tried to protect himself was burned. Ezra mentally cursed the Zabrak. He try to get closer to the battle, but Kazan stopped him. "Ezra, do not approach! Stay away!"
"What?! I can help you, Kanan!" Ezra gripped his lightsaber with one hand, while with the other he signaled Sabine to approach.
"We do not have to kill him, he's not him right now, I can feel it." Kanan jumped sideways, dodging a slash aimed directly at his chest. He raised his hand and, with a Force push, he sent Maul flying against the machinery around them.
Sabine had heard the conversation. He positioned himself in a strategic point, where she couldn't be hit by the swords and where she had a perfect aim and aimed the blaster, set on stunning.
Kanan saw her out of the corner of his eye as he dodged another blow with a Force jump. He landed behind the Zabrak and with a trip made him lose his balance. Maul fell to the ground, the dark lightsaber slipped from his hand and landed next to Sabine. The girl took the sword and threw it at Ezra, then taking advantage of the fact that Kanan had blocked the Zabrak on the ground fired at the two. Kanan got up just in time, Maul was hit and fell to the floor unconscious.
~xXx~
Headaches , he hated them, and this was particularly strong. The pain intensified even more when he opened his eyes. The sight that greeted him was not the dark ceiling of his quarters as seen, but rather the nurse of Yavin. He frowned and sat down, looking around and finding Kanan standing, arms crossed, at the end of the bed. "Kanan". he whispered and found that talking hurt his throat. "What happened?"
"How much do you remember about last night?" he asked the Zabrak.
Maul pushed himself on and did not notice his apparent lack of clothing. He just wore his pants. "I remember waking up in my quarters." He looked at the human. "Sathego was not there and I went out to look for him."
Kanan swallowed. "Do you remember something else?"
Maul shook his head. "I do not know," a certain amount of fear began to creep into his spine when he recorded the hard set of Kanan's face and features. "Why, what did I do?"
Kanan sighed. "Oh, you terrified the whole field, completely parceled out, you tried to kill Ezra twice." Zabrak was not really angry about this.
"Kanan -" The Jedi made a noise in the back of his throat that interrupted Maul before he searched. "Do not worry, in fact I would like to propose something, how about if we meditate together sometimes?"
Maul tilts his head as a sign of respect for Kanan and the human nodded once before turning around and leaving. Kix came to him. "I just have to make sure everything is fine and then you can go." I tell him, reading a needle for a blood test. Maul had not really heard it. All that is once yesterday's flashback can not be left overwhelmed for so little.
Maul growled, Kix finished the exams quickly and released him. Maul headed for the room where Sathego rested. Twi'lek opened the door, a defeated look on his face. The green eyes were watery and plump. He had cried. "Can I come in?"
Zabrak does not know what to say. He knew something was wrong, it was quite hard in Sathego's eyes, but he did not dare ask.
Sathego nodded and Maul entered the room. It was spacious. Simply this. Sathego had not personalized it in any way. On the desk, which has a sliding window as wide as a free wall, is a stand-by pad and a cup of tea.
Sathego slowly touched his arm, withdrew it and headed for the desk. Maul followed him without saying a word. The Twi'lek handed him the tablet. There was a file, the only file. He opened it.
A deafening silence fell into the room. Maul looked at the pad for a few moments. He put it on the table and looked at Sathego. Twi'lek had told him about them. Of his wife and daughter. He loved them, so much and Maul understood that. Dead. He had loved his brother too. And when he was dead, a part of Maul had died with him. Twi'lek's cheeks were streaked with the tears of his silent tears. Maul reached out and squeezed his shoulder. You do not know what to do or what to say. For the time being he would have been expected with Sathego to give him comfort. But to be honest, Maul does not know if he could give that comfort. But he tried anyway.
