Chapter Fourteen
"Ah Savage, so good to see you again," Talzin said. "The same formality to you, mother. You have been missed in the days since our last meeting on the surface of Dathomir," Savage replied. "Oh Savage, it is time I told you the truth: I am not just the head of the Nightsisters to you nor are you a former Nightbrother to me," she told him.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "You are my grandson and I am your grandmother, Savage. Why else did I take a special interest in you and your family besides your connection to the Force?" she answered. "Now it seems to be making sense to me but I don't understand," he said.
"What is there to understand besides that I am your kin as much as your mother and your brother?" she asked him."If I am indeed your grandson and Kycina is your daughter, then where are the rest of our kin?" he asked in return. "Either they hindered my plans or did me some great disrespect thus they are blessedly dead. But then could we say that for Feral?" she answered.
Savage felt no pain in that comment unless it hadn't been Talzin's intent when she mentioned his younger and weaker brother. "Is the trap ready for Maul and Kycina to fall right into it?" she asked. "Yes, all the ship's functions have been transferred into my mechanical arm. I can cause the ship to self-destruct, ray-shield all the doors, and make totally sure that only teleportation can save them from a quick, fiery death," he answered.
"Good, will there be any way to tell when the outcome of the duel will be clear or not?" she insisted. Savage nodded and activated the ship's surveillance screens including the ones in the hangar and they were honored with entertainment: Grievous and Maul had met at last. Talzin smiled, knowing that unless Maul's skill was truly powerful, it would not be enough against the four lightsabers of General Grievous. Perhaps Dooku's minions would be a use rather than a hindrance to her schemes for once.
Grievous' spinning lightsabers began to hurt Maul but he realized something about the cyborg's style. It was flashier than it was actual combat and if Maul could somehow eliminate the flashy element, he could defeat Grievous. Then he noticed that Grievous was about to strike from the left with his lower arm and positioned himself for defense. But instead of defense, he simply dodged the blade, severed the hand and took the lightsaber as his own.
After that, he used the Force to call the lightsaber to his free hand and activated its blue blade. Using Jar'Kai he began to see how the General faltered under his new might. "Ah your style weakens as I draw upon the power of Jar'Kai. Tell me, does Dooku really underestimate its abilities as a deadly style?" Maul mocked, knowing it would goad the General to make a mistake.
And the mistake itself didn't even take more than half a minute in the coming as he swung around with both his right arms then tried again with his left. Maul kept on the offensive after deflecting both right arms as well as the left one. Using the Force, Maul knocked Grievous to the ground and quickly disarmed him of his three remaining lightsabers. "It's over General, best prepare for your death," Maul warned.
Grievous kicked him in the gut just before Maul could strike and ran for his ship. He even went as far as to leave the droids he came with behind. On his way out, he blasted the ray shields off and activated the emergency hatch door and escaping just before it could smash his ship in closing and preventing the vortex of space from killing those in the hangar bay. "In the end, only cowards truly follow the ways of the Sith," Maul stated.
Kycina could not find her son anywhere no matter how hard she looked. She needed to find Maul before Talzin and Savage could do anything to him while he was vulnerable. "Mother where are you?" Maul asked through the comlink he gave her shortly before the battle had started. "Maul, I'm in hallway 456-394 looking for you," Kycina answered.
"Then you need to come to the other side of the ship, I'm just barely exiting the hangar right now," Maul said. "Good, thank you so much for telling me where you are! Now stay where you are until I arrive to rendezvous with you," Kycina demanded. "What's wrong Mom?" Maul asked.
"Talzin's aboard this ship and she's turned your brother against us. There may be an ambush waiting for you on the bridge," she answered. At first, she heard nothing from his end and she began to worry that he had already stumbled right into Talzin's trap. Then he replied, "Meet us in hallway 458 and we will all go in to face them together."
Hallway 458 wasn't far away and Kycina knew she could run there to meet up with her son. She would be her only hope if Talzin was planning to collaborate with Savage in trapping and killing him before heading back below to Dathomir. Running as fast as she could without her robes tripping her, Kycina made for the hallway as though to not do so would be to invite death. As it probably would be doing considering the situation likely to be ahead of them all.
"We know where they're headed, let's trap them there and teleport back to Dathomir now!" Savage demanded. "No, let them come onto the bridge then trap them like rats," Talzin said to her impatient grandson. He nodded but admitted he hated waiting for things to come to him rather than obtaining them himself. "If you are not careful, it could one day be your undoing, my grandson," she warned.
"I… understand, grandmother," he replied. "Do you really?" she asked. He shrugged and she laughed, loving the simplicity she had given Savage in place of the rebellious nature he had protecting his pathetic younger brother Feral. How she loathed remembering even the name of that weakling, how she loved remembering Savage had killed him, removing one more weakling from the Nightbrothers clan.
"That Githany girl will have to be the first to fall, after that you can do what you wish with this ship," Talzin said. Savage nodded, understanding what a hindrance her lightwhip could be to them. He didn't know what her skills could be but he didn't want to find out from the wrong end of her weapon. So he decided to stand by the side of the ship and wait until he was behind them before then striking.
"Maul, so good to see you alive again. You have no idea how much it pains me to know that your brother has betrayed us all," Kycina said. "We will bring him to justice for his crime together and maybe even Talzin if we are lucky," Maul replied. "Who is this Talzin character if you don't mind me asking?" Githany asked out of confusion.
"She is the head of my clan of the Nightsisters on Dathomir, she is the head witch called a Mother by her inferior sisters. But that is not all she is Maul and I," Kycina explained. Maul looked at her with about as much confusion as Githany had had when she asked about Talzin. It was then that Kycina confessed the truth of what Talzin had told her in their short duel a few minutes before.
"She has been interested in us because she is related to us by blood?" Maul asked. "Yes, she is my mother and you and Savage are her grandsons," Kycina answered. As if to ponder her words, Maul let his head drop to the floor and shook it for several seconds. "How is this possible?" he asked.
"I don't know son but nothing can change our relation to her if it is true. She has never been one to lie without a reason and I don't think she would have a reason to lie with that sort of thing," she answered. "Then let's see if we can catch that bitch and give her what for right now," Githany demanded. Laughing, Maul agreed with her on that one and even handed her the lightsaber he had taken off General Grievous to her as replacement for her lightwhip after it had been destroyed in battle.
"I hate the feel of a Jedi weapon but I think I will accept it just this once. Besides, it may be the last time I'm alive before I go back to Oblivion again," Githany said. Maul smiled at her dry sense of humor, knowing he was going to miss it if she did indeed die in battle against Savage. But would he give her a glorious death when they fought him in the hangar or would he killed her from behind?
These were questions Maul knew he would have to answer when he came to the hangar to confront his brother. Hallway 458 was not a long one and soon, Maul could see the door leading to the hangar and could see it was opened. Besides that, he could also see the ominous figure of Mother Talzin with her back facing them as if to enjoy what little view of the battle there was left. He advised caution to Githany and his mother as they approached the hangar for fear that Talzin knew they were coming and with Savage's capabilities with technology, it seemed likely.
When they were close, they could hear the faint sound of her maniacal giggle. "Traitor or no traitor, I have always admired your resilience and your ability to return swiftly for another round of ass kicking. You make an old woman proud of her daughter, Kycina," Talzin said. "I'm kind of disappointed I did that, mother," Kycina replied.
"Time and time again, I have beaten and humbled you. What makes you think this round will be any different?" Talzin asked. "Because neither I nor my son will stop until you're just a squashed bug under our heel, mother. Let's start our final fight now or are you too cowardly to accept my challenge?" Kycina answered immediately.
"Then I think it's time we put an end to this forever. Wouldn't you agree Savage?" Talzin inquired. At that remark, Savage marched from where he had stood behind them and rammed one side of his lightsaber through Githany's back. Then he yanked it out and she fell to the metal floor, instantly dead from Savage's cowardly blow. "After all I taught you, you dishonor Githany by not even giving her one last fight!" Maul shouted.
"I only want your head and no one else's unless they get in the way of what is rightfully mine," Savage replied. "And what is it that you claim is 'rightfully yours'?" Maul asked. "The title of Sith Master as you have grown too weak to be allowed to carry it any longer than you have," Savage answered. Then he lunged at his brother and began battering him with weighted Djem So strokes as Maul had trained him to use.
But then Talzin called to him and told him there would be another time if they survived the trap they had planned for them. Then Savage kicked Maul aside and used his mechanical arm to first close all doors then activate the ray shields that would protect them from lightsabers. He concluded their mad scheme by setting the ship to self-destruct in two minutes. "Now try to escape from this with the controls overridden if you think you can," Talzin mocked before she teleported herself and Savage away from the now-doomed ship.
"Come back here mother, come back here you cowardly bitch!" Kycina shouted. Maul had to hold her until she came to her senses then asked if she could also conduct teleportation. She nodded and did precisely that in less than half the time the ship had remaining before it's destruction. And before Maul could even blink, let alone react to it, he and his mother were on the surface of Dathomir and away from what had once been their center of command with the Sith Lords of the Brotherhood of Darkness itself.
