Chapter Seven

When Ophelia and Maul arrived in the new dimension Claudius had taken them to, they were confused as could be. "This looks like Coruscant, almost exactly," Ophelia exclaimed in surprise. While she was in a stupor, Maul immediately began making a silent examination of their whereabouts. The similarities are remarkable but of course, there are differences to be noted he told himself.

He immediately observed that the symbol on the police droids were different from what he had seen back home. However, because the Jedi never had use for such droids back home, he guessed that the Republic (or whatever this place's government was called) employed them. Plus, he also noticed that the people who looked like Jedi threatened the droids and even activated red lightsabers like the one he carried on his belt. The Dark Side is dominant here and the Jedi are wielders of it, I may be at home here Maul thought as Ophelia was still in her stupor.

"Maul, you are not helping us any! Actually do something useful besides just stare at everything," she said. "I've already made some useful observations, care to know them?" Maul asked. "I'm listening," she sighed.

"Firstly: take a look at the police droids, particularly the symbols on their shoulders," Maul began. Ophelia looked and seemed surprised that there was a difference between the symbol of the Republic of their dimension and the symbol presented here. "Secondly: look at the warriors wielding lightsabers, they may look like Jedi but what's one difference you can spot immediately?" Maul asked. "Their aura presents not that of Jedi we know but of users of the Dark Side, similar to yours but still different," Ophelia answered.

"Very good, now watch what happens when they ignite their lightsabers at the droids," Maul said. Ophelia did and saw red or purple blades, something that did not pass her without shocking her to her core. "Like the Sith Yoda would endlessly babble about when we were younglings," Ophelia said. It's amazing the old stinker even remembers anything about the Sith after more than eight hundred years Maul told himself, Ophelia's comment amusing him.

"I think we need to get our asses moving before they think we're up to something and investigate us," Maul said aloud. "Too late," Ophelia replied. Sure enough, two "Jedi" were coming up Maul's side and another was coming up from Ophelia's side of the street. The one on her end called them road hogs and asked why they were holding up the traffic.

Though Maul was not the diplomatic type, he did want to keep quiet this time but unfortunately, Ophelia blew it. "What traffic? I don't see much of anything on this section of the city," she asked. Damn, no we are in trouble Maul thought.

"Real smart-alack aren't you?" the one on her side asked. He added to his friends that he thought it was time for both of them to have a talk with one of the Lords in the Temple. "You seem like the type who might know the whereabouts of the missing Philosopher anyway," he said. "Excuse my friend, we barely arrived here from afar and have no idea what you're talking about," Maul said, trying to better the situation.

"Bullshit, just hand your weapons over to my boys here and we'll be underway for a safe and painless visit to the Temple," the commander ordered. "Now that's something I don't think we'll do. Besides, it isn't your choice to make and I recommend leaving us be if you value your lives," Maul warned. "Tough guy huh, well let's see how long you last when I have boys sick you," the commander replied before snapping his fingers, the signal for them to attack.

Maul ignited his double-sided lightsaber quickly and held his own relatively well, even killing the duo that tried to be his undoing. "Not bad, how's your friend?" the commander asked before igniting a blade of his own. Quickly, she sliced the hilt of his lightsaber in half and held him at blade-point. "Fine enough without assholes like you coming to look," Ophelia replied.

Before he could react, Maul immediately saw a trap as he watched the commander Force push her into a pile of crates before attempting his escape. "Not so fast, you and I have unfinished business," Maul told him. The commanding officer immediately sent a barrage of Force lightning upon him but Maul merely stood there, absorbing it into his body. "Sorry to scare you but I'm immune to Force lightning," he mocked with an evil smile.

Then he absorbed all the Force lightning in his body and reflected it back at his enemy, killing him almost instantaneously and without mercy. Ophelia was just barely returning from her state of surprise and immediately guessed that Maul had killed the remaining Jedi. "You guessed correctly for once now we just need to get out of here," he said. "Hey, you two look like you could use my help, come!" someone said to them from nowhere.

"Who are you?" Ophelia asked. "Someone who can help you get accustomed to your surroundings, I can tell you're not even from this galaxy, let alone here," the man told them. Maul followed the voice until he found a man dressed in robes that matched the holographic picture they had seen earlier. "Wait, you're the one they want; how do we know to trust you?" Ophelia asked.

Maul smacked her back and asked her in a whisper if she had any better ideas. "For someone that doesn't talk much, your friend has a point now let's go!" the man ushered. Ophelia and Maul followed until they reached a place that had all sorts of devices they had never seen and a surprisingly huge number of statues in its vicinity. When the man closed the door behind them, Maul knew they were safe although Ophelia wasn't so quick to be so sure.

"Sorry to spoil the fun for you like that but had you stayed there, the cavalry would have been called in from the Temple," the man said politely. "No apologies, just tell us who you are and what the hell is going on here," Ophelia said, blunt but direct. Maul made a slight snarl of irritation but she chose to ignore this. "It's all right friend, my name is Alec and I am part of a secret group that is publicly known as the Philosophers but has more recently begun to adopt The Avengers as its name because we're avenging the wrongs committed to common people every day," the man explained.

Maul and Ophelia were silent as he explained that for thousands of years, the Jedi and the Philosophers had been at war with each other. However, the Philosophers suffered a staggering defeat one thousand years ago that only left a single survivor who fled for her life. "Since then, anyone who has been willing to study the ways of the Philosophers has had to sacrifice everything they love for the cause. It was the only way to keep the Order and those associated with it safe from the Jedi," he continued.

Ophelia shook her head in disbelief while Maul took it to a deeper level. He doubted even Claudius knew what he had dragged them into or if the man was even alive any longer. If he was, it certainly was a miracle of chance but how long would that remain? How long did they have before these Jedi found them again and tried to kill them once more?

"My friend and former Master, the late Dante, took me to the Temple in the hopes that we would be able to find something to kill them. Fortunately, in spite of his sacrifice, we did indeed," Alec said. Then he extracted a chip from in his sleeve and explained its purpose. "A small chip with that much command over the armies of this world… most impressive," Maul noted.

"I just need to get it to the Chancellor and then it's over for the Overlord and his evil rule," Alec said. Then he looked away as though he were disappointed that he hadn't done that sooner. "And how come you haven't done this yet?" Ophelia asked. "Because we just barely got the chip a few hours ago; you walked into the confusion Dante's sacrifice caused," Alec answered.

"Do you have spare rooms to accommodate us at least until tomorrow morning? Forgive the interjection but there's nothing more we can do for tonight and if we hope to reach the Chancellor, we'd best be at full strength tomorrow," Maul asked. "Oh yes, I almost forgot that Dante always left a huge number of spare rooms for anyone who joins us and wishes to hide out here," Alec answered. Alec guided them to separate rooms and Ophelia unpacked what she had whilst Darth Maul simply washed his robe and cleaned the handle of his lightsaber from the insect blood during their adventures in the previous dimension.

When Alec returned, he invited them to dinner and Maul willingly accepted the offer though he himself didn't see the need for food. Ophelia recognized the cuisines he laid out as imports from her homeworld and wondered if they tasted the same as she remembered. To her surprise and eternal delight, they did. Maul savored each bite, using the Force to process each nutrient to every cell of his body, a form of bodily repair he had learned while chasing after a minor Senator that Sidious wanted eliminated on the watery planet Manaan.

Ophelia watched him and wondered where the hell he learned those tricks from, still unaware that he was an apprentice to a Sith Lord back in their dimension. Maul didn't know how long he could keep up that deception because in spite of the fact that they had few moments to talk that didn't concern the mission, he felt a strange attraction to her. It wouldn't be so bad if the feelings weren't mutual but unfortunately, they were. Alec made no comment but assumed nothing about his newly acquired guests while he ate his food and thanked Ophelia and Maul for keeping him company.

"And thanks for telling me about your dimension Ophelia, it's so incredible to think that there is something like that where the Jedi are not tyrannical terrorists but benevolent protectors of the peace," he told her. "The Republic has known a thousand years of peace, following the defeat of our Sith enemies on the planet of Ruusan. For the first few centuries, we feared the Sith would return to take their revenge but after about three hundred years after Ruusan (maybe more) we relaxed and settled into an era of peace that had already lasted a long time by then. Seeing as how the Jedi are tyrants here, I can understand why you find what I have to say difficult to comprehend," Ophelia agreed.

"But maybe you two are the key to my victory and the return of justice to this world," Alec said. Ophelia maybe but restoring peace to a galaxy was never my destiny Maul said to himself. "Maul, don't look so glum! His people need our help whether you like it or not," Ophelia said.

"Don't call me glum, every minute we waste here is a minute Claudius uses to get closer to Heraklion Prime and the destruction of the Force and of all reality," Maul hissed. "Claudius? Heraklion Prime? What in the name of the Great Ones is this all about?" Alec inquired, confused.

With great reluctance, Ophelia explained why they were here and explained Claudius' intent on the universe in all its dimensions. "I won't stall you anymore than I have, feel free to leave in the morning if you choose thought I truly would have appreciated your help in this," Alec said with a heavy heart. "We're staying, knowing my brother Claudius, he can't move around in this chaos anymore than we can," she assured him. "Thank you, all I need done is for someone to download the program as I am terrible at technology and someone who can lead the assault on the temple here on Coruscant," Alec replied.

"I'll handle that one. I have a hunch that my dark aura will allow me to sneak any and all troops deep enough into the Temple to launch a full-scale assault that not even the Overlord would be ready for," Maul said. "That is true, you may not be a Jedi of this dimension but your dark power would fool even the Overlord all the same. You are truly a genius considering you don't talk too much," Alec told him. "I try to let my actions speak for me more than my tongue if I can help it," Maul replied. They enthusiastically agreed to the plans of Maul attacking the temple, Ophelia downloading the chip into the main frame, and Alec confronting the Overlord.