Chapter Nine
"Kenobi, I am contacting you on the open frequency so that your fellow Jedi can't trace me. Are you available?" Dooku's hologram asked his Jedi enemy. "Yes Dooku, I can speak with you. What do you want?" Kenobi replied, his tone underlying his enmity toward Dooku.
"Darth Maul is not just your enemy but mine too. He killed Qui-Gon Jinn who was a friend of mine and a former apprentice. And now, I have learned he may be rallying a fleet powerful enough to fight against both the Republic and the CIS," Dooku began. "And your point is?" Obi-Wan asked, interrupting what would have probably have been a long, boring speech.
"It may be too powerful for us to defeat alone but perhaps united we stand a chance," Dooku answered. "I already promised him I would face him alone at the end of the week, why would I want to bring a fleet when I've made my promise?" Obi-Wan inquired. "Because it would insure that you faced him alone unless I kill him before you have to face him again. Besides, would you rather not have to worry about soldiers firing at your back while you face him?" Dooku replied.
Obi-Wan handed him that one and asked him when he should have his fleet ready to unite with Dooku's equally massive fleet of Separatists. "Assemble it as soon as possible and meet me above the atmosphere of Dathomir when you are ready. If that is their base, we want to hit them where they make camp before they can strike at us," Dooku answered. Kenobi shrugged and said he would assemble his fleet and meet Dooku in two standard days at which point, Dooku disconnected the transmission he made to the Jedi.
Just then, Kenobi felt a disturbance in the Force but he couldn't pinpoint a possible source for it. He wasn't even sure where it was coming from but it did seem familiar. Then he lost it, as had been the pattern of these disturbances in the last day or two. It seemed as though the source of them was carefully covering their tracks and only having a moment where they dropped their guard before realizing it was dropped then disappearing once more.
As paranoid as it sounded, was there a reason this was happening to him? Was it happening to someone else, Dooku or Anakin perhaps? And why were these disturbances so frequent and so small in their occurrence? There was no way to tell except by sitting back and waiting to see what would happen.
After a consecutive standard day of travel, Maul, Savage, and Kycina all arrived at an old tower where Maul stopped in his tracks. "Brother, what is it?" Savage asked. "Is this the place?" Kycina inquired. Maul nodded to his mother but added he was trying to see what security was inside the tower.
"Where is the ship?" Savage asked. "At the very top of this tower but security is controlled in the basement. Unless we can somehow knock out the security systems, the droids in there will know we're coming inside," Maul answered. "Perhaps my magic can help solve that problem," Kycina offered.
"Is there a way you can take out the security systems whether or not the droids can be shut down as well?" Maul asked. Kycina nodded and said she would begin the spell immediately. All she did was merely touch the emerald of her staff against a wire on the ground and let a vine of green energy creep up the wire until it reached the tower. Then it diversified into multiple vines, all of which attacked the security systems Maul wanted taken out before entrance into the tower itself.
At first, the systems seemed to work more powerfully than ever before and the lights were brighter than was safe for the entire block. Then, in a single instant, the lights exploded and the security systems were overridden thus blinding the droids to the danger approaching their domain. The doors swung open, exposing a massive hallway with many passages, most of which seemed only to lead into darkness. But if the tower had not been deconstructed then reconstructed Maul knew which one would take them up to his ship, Scimitar.
Slowly, Maul his way towards the gate and grabbed the hilt of his lightsaber, keeping it ready in case they were spotted. Knowing how alert the droids were back in his day with them as his trainers, Maul was willing to bet that wouldn't take long. "Brother, must we go in and get your ship when we could easily have just taken that cargo ship on Nyx, gone to Ruusan and returned with an army in no time?" Savage asked. "It is necessary that we obtain this ship, its invisibility cloak will protect us from all forms of enemy attention until we're ready to strike back," Maul answered.
"We could have revived them and had a fleet rolling forth to crush all our enemies in one brilliant stroke by now! Why do you stubbornly insist on obtaining this ship from your glory days as Sidious' slave?" Savage inquired. "Because one day, I will need its powerful invisibility cloak to exact my revenge upon Sidious," Maul replied. Savage stopped right there and now understood that his brother had been planning two turns ahead of him once again as he usually did.
"Think before you ask questions Savage, perhaps it will help you understand your brother's intent (whether it is one I like or not and I don't like this one) in the future. You are too quick to pass judgment on your brother when you do not even know the full insight into his plans," Kycina told her younger and more immature son. "Thank you mother, I was beginning to become aggravated by Savage's tone," Maul said. One of the droids finally came out and revealed an electrostaffs with yellow electricity glowing on each end.
"I think it's time we began our battle for the Scimitar. Now we fight, mercilessly and without compromise," Maul declared before activating his blade. Savage ignited his own lightsaber and Kycina's emerald started to burn green fire then all three charged into the facility and began their assault. Kycina shot bolts of green energy at the droid and even managed to blow its head off with one of her shots.
Savage's double-sided lightsaber acted both as weapon and as a shield for his brother who began assailing the droids with his skills in Juyo. Whenever a droid got close to her, Kycina blasted it to pieces with her staff which penetrated through the staff and into their chest before melting their circuits and permanently deactivating them. "Maul, Savage, gather around me! I have an idea as to how we can past the bulk of the droids," Kycina shouted after enough passed and it looked as though they would be overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of them.
Maul did as instructed and protected their mother from the droids that had blasters as they did so. Kycina took her staff, held the emerald facing the ceiling and the butt of the staff facing the ground. Then she quickly recited an incantation and thrust her staff downwards, the emerald glowing as she threw it down. Without even being told to, Savage and Maul turned around and covered their eyes as the butt of Kycina's staff smacked the ground and an explosion of green light briefly overcame everything that could be seen.
When the light finally died, all that remained of the droids were charred pieces of steel that began to burn very lightly. There were even pieces of wires that were releasing sparks every now and then. Maul looked around him and Savage repeated his example, seeing the devastation their mother's magic had caused to their enemies. "Remind me never to get on your bad side, mother," Maul said after a long moment of silence. She giggled and asked if he would like to lead the way to his ship now.
"Gladly, cover me and Savage from behind as we ascend the tower. We may need you to do that again and I want to be able to reach you when you do," Maul said. "Don't get us surrounded and maybe it won't happen," Kycina replied, a warm smile dazzling her aged face. "I'll try not to," Maul said with a quick wink before continuing his ascension up the stairs leading to his beloved ship.
The droids kept coming but now Maul and Savage had them where they needed them to be: in a narrow passage with no means of surrounding the trio. Maul grabbed one through the Force and hurtled it into its friends then let Savage run in front of them and hack them all to bits. Kycina used her staff's magic to finish off those that survived the wrath of the brothers and their abilities with a lightsaber. As there were thirty levels on the tower and still several droids in the basement, Maul hoped to reach the ship before having to deal with them and even advised Kycina to occasionally peak behind them to make sure they didn't get trapped between two legions of droids.
Kycina did as her son asked and every time, she reported that there still were no droids behind them. Maul deduced they were emergency units powered by the security systems in the basement and would only be activated if the security had told them to be. That meant there were only these droids to deal with and once he got to the guns on his ship, he would surely be able to deal with them easily. The only trouble, of course, was getting there but this would be worth all the effort they were presently putting in to slice down droids and deflect their blaster fire back at them.
Count Dooku landed on Nyx shortly after hearing a report that Maul had been there with Savage and a woman they claimed was their mother. When he heard it, he knew he had to prove whether or not it was true but he also hoped that he didn't have to make an arrest since Nyx was a neutral world and attempting to arrest King Laertes would surely result in retaliation from the Republic. It was the last thing he needed just when he had prepared a fleet to take on Maul whenever the reports of him gathering an army were confirmed by his spies in Dathomir.
"Count Dooku, such an unexpected surprise. Have you come to personally pick up a shipment or have you come to once more attempt to sway my world to the cause of you and your precious Separatists?" Laertes asked. "Neither, I am here to ask you about something you may know," Dooku answered. When Laertes assured him they were in an area that was forbidden to all but himself and others he selected, Dooku continued.
"It has come to my understanding you have had involvement with a man calling himself Maul, his brother Savage, and his mother Kycina. Is this true?" Dooku inquired. "I have no idea as to the last two you mention but I was involved with a man named Maul early in my reign. My people still revere him as the savior of our entire system," Laertes explained.
"Did this man say who he was associated with at the time?" Dooku asked. "Why do you ask about a man who has not been to my world in fourteen years? You're a little slow on the times, aren't you?" Laertes asked, ignoring the Count's inquire. "Do not test me boy, I am powerful beyond even the strongest of your pathetic bodyguards," Dooku answered.
"Oh that I understand and threats like that are exactly why I have not joined the CIS yet. Until you can learn to negotiate with me like a civilized man, I will never even consider giving up my planet's neutrality for any reason whatsoever," Laertes said, sneering as he said it. "Thank you for your time, I think I will leave now that I know how much you're willing to cooperate in my search for this evil man," Dooku said after pausing for a short moment. "Who is more evil between the man who has only his vengeance but saves an entire world or a man who has everything at his feet who uses his power for only his on selfish purposes?" Laertes asked before Dooku was out of sight and on his way back to Serenno.
Maul, Savage, and Kycina had all made it halfway up the tower when at last, the droids stopped coming in wave after relentless wave. Initially, it was celebrated but then Maul's grim expression stopped all festivities. "What is it, my dear son?" Kycina asked. "Unless I'm wrong, we're in for another surprise more menacing than this," Maul answered.
"What is this surprise you speak of, brother?" Savage asked. "Droids trained to use a lightsaber though not near as perfectly as you or I can. I hope I'm wrong but don't be upset if I'm right," Maul answered. Then, as he had warned, several droids with lightsaber hilts at their waists walked to all sides of them and surrounded them immediately.
"Find your ship Maul and take Savage with you, I've seen these before and I can deal with them now. Savage's father taught me a few things about blade combat and besides, I need to see if my combat skills are rusted at all," Kycina said. "No, we're not separating we're staying together at all times!" Maul shouted.
"Then none of us get to your ship and our plans for the galaxy are compromised," Kycina replied. Maul thought about that briefly as the droids began to slowly march toward them. "Be careful mother, they will show no mercy as did none of the other droids we have faced," Maul said. Then he and Savage hacked their way through several of the droids before Kycina called the rest back to her.
With her sons continuing the journey all three of them had started, Kycina could now deal with the droids herself. She shot a bolt at two of them and successfully blew their heads off with the bolts of green magic. Then she disintegrated and absorbed her staff into her body and called the two lightsabers on the ground to her hands with the Force. "All right you walking hunks of metallic shit, let's see what you have got," Kycina said to the droids, then attacked them with her new weapons.
After running away from the scene of their mother taking on several combat droids by herself, Maul and Savage stopped and beheld a long, elongated ship with a massive amount of dust layering its metal plates. It looked like its last ounce of fuel had long since been drained but Maul recognized it for what it was immediately: Scimitar. Using the Force, he cleaned the dust off of his Sith beauty and brought several fuel hoses over to where they were meant to be inserted. "It will be sometime before I can check the interior of the ship as I have to fuel it in order to activate it but during that time, we can check on our mother," Maul said once the fuel pumps were in their place.
"If what she says is true, she should be fine right now," Savage said. "One cannot be too careful in situations like this with our mother," Maul replied. Then he ran back to where they left Kycina to face the droids but Savage stayed behind to watch the ship as it was fueled for the first time in twelve years. He had some things to think about now that his brother was starting to care about their mother as much as he did.