Okay, I've been working on the story some more, and the Felucia storyline will take up three chapters instead of two. This story arc is vital. Trust me.

Note: Maris is seventeen in the story.
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Felucia, 6 months ago

Shaak Ti and her new Padawan, Maris Brood, were in trouble on Felucia. They had been sent there to resolve a supposed hostage situation. When they had arrived, the hostages were dead, and the stench of their dead bodies had attracted rancors. Many rancors.

Shaak Ti jumped back as a rancor claw smashed into the ground in front of her. Maris was on the head of another, attempting to kill it, but to no avail.

"Master? Where's our backup?!" Maris shouted as she jumped off the rancor's head, barely dodging a swipe from its hand. It was Shaak Ti and Maris against five rancors. All the troopers that were with them were dead; killed by the rancors. They never stood a chance.

"They're five minutes away! Just hand in there!" Shaak Ti said as she turned to her Padawan. Maris was a unique Padawan. She carried two guard shotos, a rare type of lightsaber that had a second hilt sticking out of the side that was used as the grip, making the lightsabers a kind of tonfa shape. They were especially useful for defense. Her green blades spun as a rancor tried to attack her.

Maris jumped up and cut two fingers off of the the rancor, the beast crying in pain. The two Jedi were then forced to back away, toward the center of a trap. The rancors were surrounding them, cutting off their escape.

Shaak Ti sensed great fear from her Padawan. "Relax, Maris. The Force is with us," Shaak Ti told the frightened girl. Maris nodded, but her attention was on the approaching creatures that would stop at nothing to eat her. As the rancors closed in, one loud noise erupted from the jungle.

GGGRRROOOAAARRR!

Every rancor surrounding the two Jedi stopped and cocked their heads. Then after a few seconds, all five monstrous beasts turned and ran toward the jungle in different directions.

"Is that good or bad?" Maris asked as she lowered her guard slightly. Then the sound of crunching trees and birds flying away came from the Padawan's left. The two turned, sensing a large prescense.

Then the creature lunged from the trees, and Shaak Ti felt fear paralyze her, for she had never seen such a creature.

Huge, pale, with tusks and spikes, and a large mouth that was dripping with slime, its teeth the size of a speeder bike. "A bull rancor," Shaak Ti gasped. She stood absolutely still, hoping the rancor didn't attack. Unfortunately, Maris gave in to her fear and began running in the opposite direction.

"NO!" Shaak Ti yelled, but her cry was completely blocked out by the bull rancor as it charged after her Padawan. Shaak Ti jumped out of the way as the rancor blew past her. Maris turned to see the rancor approaching at an increasing speed. Then she tripped on a rock.

She landed on her side, her two lightsabers skidding away. Maris looked up to see the rancor lower its head, its jaws prepared to snatch her up. But as it got closer, a large explosion erupted in front of the legendary beast, knocking it on its stomach. Maris and Shaak Ti looked up to see a clone gunship approaching. It landed near Shaak Ti, three troopers climbing out.

"Are you alright, sir?" the captain asked as the other two secured Maris. Shaak Ti smiled and said "Now that you're here, I'd say so." Maris and the two troopers ran up and climbed into the ship, Shaak Ti and the captain following.

The ship began to climb into the air. Maris and Shaak Ti looked at each other, both smiling in relief. It was broken when the bull rancor regained its footing and leaped at the gunship, scratching the bottom.

The ship tilted, Maris and a trooper getting knocked out. "Maris!" Shaak Ti yelled as her Padawan hit the ground. Shaak Ti turned to the cockpit, screaming "We have to go back! NOW!"

"I'm sorry sir, but we've been ordered back to the cruiser," the clone apologized, truly sorry. Shaak Ti yelled at the pilot, but it was too late.

Maris Brood's scream at that moment would haunt Shaak Ti's dreams for a long time. Until they met again.
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Felucia, now

Shaak Ti's mouth was agape as she laid eyes on her old Padawan, who just hopped down from the beast they had fought against months ago. "She's alive," Shaak Ti whispered, her body frozen.

To her right, the five troopers, Vebb and Fisto were preparing for a fight. To Shaak Ti's far left, Starkiller held his lightsaber in reverse-style, his helmet looking up at the pale beast known as a bull rancor.

Maris hopped down from the rancor's pale head, a cold look on her face. She walked forward, the rancor staying back. She approached Shaak Ti, her face forming a smile. She stopped a few yards away.

"Hello. Master," the Zabrak girl said, her voice taking an accusatory tone. "Maris..." Shaak Ti said weakly. Maris's face went from a cold smile to a deadly scowl. "You remember me? That's a surprise," she growled.

The bull rancor growled in response. Almost like it was following Maris's mood...

"I thought you were dead! I thought that thing killed you!" Shaak Ti said, pointing her finger at the rancor, which growled again. "You abandoned me, left me to die! I had to survive on carcasses and raw plants for six months!" Maris yelled at her old Master.

"I had no choice," Shaak Ti said quietly. "The clones wouldn't let me help you."

Maris grew more infuriated. "Don't you dare blame the clones! They're the only ones that can be trusted!" Maris snapped.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," a deep voice said from behind Maris. She turned, only to see a man in a dark suit and a bronze helmet staring at her, a lightsaber hilt in his hand.

"Let me guess. Starkiller?" Maris asked with contempt. Starkiller nodded and said "Good guess. And you're an agent of the Dark Side. Like me."

Maris smiled wryly. "Not exactly. I don't work for banking clans and cowards," the girl answered. Starkiller chuckled and said "You have an attitude. I like that."

Maris then turned to Fisto, Vebb, and the clones before turning back to Shaak Ti. "Maris? You've joined the Dark Side?" Shaak Ti asked, horrified at what happened to her old Padawan.

"Yes. And now I'll have my revenge. On you and everyone else who wronged me," Maris growled, pulling her lightsabers off her belt. She looked at Starkiller and growled "You're next on my list."

From her guard shotos, red blades emerged. She then turned to Shaak Ti and began her assault on the Jedi Master. Starkiller was about to leap after her until the rancor roared again. The remaining fighters turned to see the rancor charging at them.

"Scatter!" Vebb yelled as he activated his lightsaber. The clones and Fisto all ran in different directions to confuse the massive creature. Starkiller, however, charged toward it. He activated his lightsaber and jumped onto the rancor's leg, slashing at it. The rancor growled in annoyance and swung its claws, knocking Starkiller into a nearby boulder.

The rancor then felt a tingling sensation on the side of its head. It turned to see two clones with blasters firing on it. The beast roared and charged again, it's jaws open and its claws raised. The clones tried to run, but it was too late. The rancor crushed one under its claws and hit the other one with its tail, the clone's broken body flying into the air. Fisto sensed the life leave both of the troopers.

The rancor turned again to look for more prey. The other three troopers were nowhere to be found. Fisto, however, was standing right in the open, his arms folded and that annoying grin on his face. The bull rancor roared again and picked up a nearby boulder. Fisto's smile faltered as the beast hurled the rock at him.

Fisto dodged the rock easily, which caused the rancor more annoyance. As it prepared to charge, another stinging sensation hit the rancor's back. It was more painful than the blasters.

The rancor prepared to turn until a boulder flew forward and slammed it in the stomach. The beast was winded, but the rock didn't stand a chance against the armored chest of a bull rancor. It looked left and right. Starkiller was on the left, his hands surging with Force Lightning (which is what hit the rancor and caused the stinging sensation). On the right was Fisto, who finally activated his emerald lightsaber blade.

The rancor couldn't decide who to chase after. It didn't have to, because Starkiller and Fisto both charged forward. The rancor roared and swung both its hands at the attackers. Starkiller jumped down on his knees and slid under the claw aimed at him, while Fisto jumped over the other.

The two landed on the rancor's back and looked at each other. "Truce?" Fisto asked. Starkiller nodded and jumped onto the bull rancor's head and sent a surge of Lightning through the beast's skull. The beast growled and began shaking his head, trying to knock Starkiller off. Starkiller drove his claws into the rancor's head, latching himself onto the beast.

Fisto jumped off and ran in front of the rancor, hoping to distract it. The rancor did something completely unexpected then: It lifted its head, then smashed it into the ground. The force formed a crater, Starkiller landing in it with a grunt of pain.

The rancor lifted its foot to step on the Sith Lord, but Fisto ran forward and activated his lightsaber. The rancor roared, which was a big mistake. Fisto jumped and slammed his lightsaber into the roof of the beast's mouth. The bull rancor screamed and turned its head, its tusks knocking Fisto away.

The rancor turned back to Starkiller, only to see an empty crater. "Looking for me?" a voice asked. The rancor turned and found itself covered in a shadow. Starkiller stood a few yards away, both of his hands in the air. Floating in mid-air was the ship Starkiller and Argyus had taken.

"Hope you're hungry," the Sith said as he threw both his hands forward. The ship flew toward the rancor, which roared in defiance as the ship collided with it. The ship exploded, causing a massive shockwave. Starkiller crossed his hands in front of his chest, the shockwave flying around him. Fisto hid behind a clumb of large rocks.

When the explosion died down, Starkiller saw a large ring of fire along with multiple pieves of debris. "That'll learn ya," Starkiller muttered as he turned back to Fisto, who climbed out from his hiding spot. "Where were we?" Starkiller asked. Before Fisto could answer, a loud roar erupted from the fire ring.

Fisto and Starkiller turned to see the bull rancor emerge from the flames, not a scratch to be seen. But it did look really angry.
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Shaak Ti dodged another blow from Maris as the two fought through the jungle.

Maris was pushing her old master with everything she had, spinning her blades and lashing out with the Force. Shaak Ti just kept defending herself. SHe didn't have the heart to attack her old padawan. "Maris, this is foolishness! Please stop!" she yelled as she ducked under an attack by Maris.

"I will never stop! Not until I've had my vengeance!" the Zabrak girl snapped as she threw a Force Push. Shaak Ti flew back from the power of the blow, hitting a tree trunk. Maris approached slowly, savoring the moment. She lifted her lightsabers and swung down...

Only to be stopped by a blue blade. She turned to see Vebb standing there, a scowl on his face. She growled in frustration and lashed out with her foot, hitting the Mon Calamari in the nose and stunning him. He blinked hard a few times and swung with his blade, only to be blocked by Maris.

"Fool. You don't stand a chance against me," Maris growled. Vebb answered with "I disagree." Then he retracted his lightsaber and pushed his hand forward, Maris being hit by a Force Push. She recovered quickly and gave an evil grin.

Then, before Vebb's eyes, Maris disappeared. "Force Cloak," he muttered as he turned, trying to see where the girl was. He sensed something behind him and swung, hitting one of Maris's blades. "Not bad. But not impressive," she said as she became visible again.

The two attacked one another, Vebb slashing in an upward diagonal motion. Maris tried to block it, but the force of the blow knocked her lightsaber in her left hand out of her grip. He prepared to swing again, but she used her Force Cloak ability and disappeared.

Vebb looked at Maris's shoto on the ground. It began floating in mid-air, and then disappeared. Vebb prepared himself, then jumped back as the two shotos flew out of nowhere, Maris having thrown them at the Jedi.

He turned and blocked as Maris suddenly appeared, grabbing her shotos out of the air and swinging. "I sense darkness within you, Jedi. You and I aren't so different," she said as she pushed down on his lightsaber.

"But there's one difference: You're not going to be alive for long," Vebb shot back as he pushed her lightabers away. She twisted and swung with her left blade. He blocked it, and his lightsaber was knocked away. She turned around again and impaled her right lightsaber in Vebb's chest.

The look of surprise on his face was the last expression he ever had, as Maris withdrew her lightsaber and Nahdar Vebb's dead body fell to the ground. Maris turned back to Shaak Ti and prepared to finsih off the Togruta when she felt a disturbance in the Force.

Maris's eyes widened and her head snapped in the direction of the crater. "NO!" she yelled as she ran towards it, a sense of dread filling her.
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When Maris burst forth from the jungle back into the crater, she saw a very strange sight.

She saw that all five clone troopers were dead. Judging by the condition of their bodies, they had been killed by the bull rancor. She looked and saw fire and debris from when Starkiller had thrown the ship.

Standing in the middle of the crater was the worst sight of all.

Starkiller stood there, covered in blood and what looked like puke. He was panting heavily, probably trying not o pass out from the stench, which Maris could smell from the far distance between them. Fisto, too, stood by Starkiller holding his nose.

But in front of Starkiller was her bull rancor. Her only companion for the past six months. Anyone could tell it was dead. It's head looked like it had been blown away, leaving a bloody stump on the end of the neck.
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Four minutes ago

Starkiller dodged the rancor's tail and jumped onto its head, but was immediately knocked off by its claws. Starkiller twisted to avoid being hit by the bull's large and deadly tusks and leaped away.

He ran by the three bodies of he last clone troopers. They had been mowed down by the rancor when they fired at it.

Fisto joined him and asked :How do we kill this thing?!" Starkiller looked at the rancor, studying it. Then it roared, and the Sith had a plan. "Hide behind something. This is gonna be messy," he told the Jedi Master.

Fisto gave a look of confusion, but nodded. Starkiller turned to the rancor and crouched down, steeling himself for what he was about to do. The rancor charged, its mouth open and ready to devour the Sith Lord.

Starkiller held his ground as the beast approached. Closer... Closer... NOW.

Starkiller jumped up and into the rancor's mouth, his hands pushing the upper jaw while the lower jaw was held by his feet. The beast roared, and since STarkiller was in the creature's mouth, the roar was extra painful to the ears.

Starkiller then muttered "Please let Plan A work." Then he gathered up all his strength and blasted a high amount of Force Lightning through the rancor's upper jaw. Plan A, however, only partially worked.

The Lightning stormed through the jaw into the rancor's brain, overloading it. The bull rancor began spasming and falling over, roaring and crying and whimpering. Its throat began convulsing, and Starkiller had a moment's notice before the rancor's stomach ejected its contents through the mouth and onto Starkiller.

I've never been happier that I have this helmet, he thought in disgust as his entire outfit was drenched in rancor stomach acid and dead carcasses. It took all of Starkiller's willpower not to jump out of the mouth. Instead he let his anger fuel him into staying.

"Plan B it is," he said hesitantly as he tried his next move. Starkiller gathered all his energy again and released a massive Force Repulse. The rancor didn't stand a chance. The power and force of the Repulse pushed at the rancor's mouth, and its head completely exploded in a hail of vomit, blood, and brains.

Starkiller jumped out finally and began shaking himself, trying to get the disgusting contents of his robes and helmet. "Damn rancor," he cursed as he wiped his visor, trying to regain his vision.

FIsto walked forward, holding his nose. "That was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen," the Master said, frowning. "It worked, didn't it?" Starkiller responded, using the Force to try and clean his robes and lightsabers.

Then Starkiller felt a great surge of anger. "Look who's back," Starkiller said as he pulled his Sith lightsaber off his belt. Maris Brood was staring on from the crater's edge, a look of pain and hatred etched on her face.
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Okay, this is without a doubt the grossest chapter I've ever written for any of my stories. Sorry it had to get so graphic, but I was following the novel on this one. Next chapter has full Maris vs Starkiller, and I end this arc with a shocking ending. One that makes Starkiller question everything he's ever known.