Rage of a red hue masked the skies alongside archaic fragments of fear, as they always had for thousands of years. But a foreign object enacted itself upon the old homeworld of the Sith, one that fit in with the climate snugly, like a corner piece of a puzzle long forgotten. To match the red planet, the object's skin carried a crimson hue, one that matched its own anger and that of the planet's. Although this was opposed by the maverick black and rusty brown that adorned the natural color. The black itself conveyed the feeling of...impermanence, while the rusty brown, stained by another's broken life force, stuck out of the creature's head.
He had been here before, in fact, he often visited this long abandoned world, disturbing the decaying energies within. He made it his mission, it seemed, to search through fear, long forgotten, in search of things with more significance. A darker power, through either knowledge or energy. He would always enter with authority, a knowledge that he would dominate whatever was within. One thought seeped through every pore, one that permeated every other in the vicinity:
I am Maul.
And that was reason enough for him. That simplicity gave him a purpose, but it was not the source of his power. No, the disturbance he caused was not caused by his apparent confidence, but rather the underlying fear, resentment, and ambition. Those forces that fed on his persona: those forces he refused to guide.
Landing on a dilapidated landing pad on the edge of the Valley of the Dark Lords, Maul prepared to exit the ship. Suddenly, a fluctuation of energy beckoned him to the front of his vehicle, a beckoning that he would respond to with a frantic desperation. Upon answering, another presence, merely a whisper, entered the system. Blue in coloration, although, to some extent-through the fear it created within Maul-it was a much darker being than him.
"Master," Maul said, kneeling.
"We will need you sooner than expected. Negotiations are going well," The figure explained in a dour tone.
Maul lowered his head. He had hoped to be left unmolested for some time, "How soon, master?"
"Next week at the earliest," his master answered.
"Yes, master," Maul responded, and the transmission abruptly ended, but the figure's influence remained. A profound numbness blocked Maul's former darkness, his eyes moving around idly as his mind defensively emptied itself. But, with a groan, his anger returned, along with a frustrated push that blew everything around the cockpit into the air.
He rushed back to his ship's ramp, eager to forget his master, as he typically was allowed to do during these trips. Whenever Sidious didn't need him for training or a mission, Maul would make his way to Korriban in order to explore the tombs. Within, he would find creatures to sate his blood lust, as well as holocrons and artifacts to teach him what Sidious couldn't - or refused to. It was a convenient arrangement, mostly because Maul made his home in one of the many derelict space stations in orbit of the planet. Sidious was aware of this arrangement, and didn't seem to care, so Maul continued his obsessive adventuring.
Lowering the ramp, Maul was greeted once again by the full fury of a Korriban sand storm. The familiar bombardment of roughness comforted him to an extent, even though the scent of hate tainted the air. It reminded Maul of himself in a strange way. Stepping down onto the slab he landed on, Maul scanned the area with his Macrobinoculars.
The constant sandstorms on Korriban frequently changed the layout of the planet's surface, and it sometimes uncovered entrances to caves and long forgotten tombs. This provided an unending area for Maul to search, something that excited him to no end.
Standing in place for a few minutes, Maul intensely watched for signs of ancient stone, or a sudden dip in the sand. He found nothing. Deciding to try another angle before he ran blindly amongst the dunes, he sat and meditated on the Dark Side, attempting to detect another dark creature like himself.
Bone on bone, sharp but blind.
Bingo.
Maul shot up, jumping off of his landing pad so eagerly that he almost fell onto his own face. The hunt had begun. Following the scent of his prey's life force, he ran and lunged across the dunes. His pace was so swift that the sand, running along the small, uncovered segments of his skin, created rashes. Soon, he came within range of...shouting, just loud enough to be audible over the sandstorm.
Skidding on his heels, he came to a sudden stop and crouched on the rim of a sand dune. The shouting continued, but it wasn't in any dialect he recognised. The crude, sudden stops after each word made the language inherently aggressive, as well as primitive.
"Was there undiscovered primitive life on Korriban?" thought Maul. It seemed unlikely.
Peeking over the rim of the dune, Maul could barely make out the figures of seven humanoids. They seemed to be carrying brownish-white staves, as well as wearing armor of the same color, with their skin being covered by a type of leather. They were definitely primitives, but something seemed...off about them. They were strong in the force, for one...but something just on the edge of Maul's mind taunted him. He resolved to attack and figure out what.
Unhooking his lightsaber from his belt, he activated it, unleashing a violent 'vrum' as the blades expanded out from the hilt. Maul stood back up, and bent at the knees before force jumping over the hill. His shrill warcry would've turned the heads of his adversaries, if they hadn't already sensed him. They raised their weapons, which were revealed to be double sided blades of bone.
Maul landed just in front of the group, rolling into a stab into the first primitive's abdomen. The others charged, and Maul flipped backwards to increase the distance between him and the tribals.
The fastest tribal reached Maul and spun his blades into a swipe towards Maul's torso. With a swift raise of his blade, the bone was sliced in two by Maul's. Undeterred, the tribal jumped and spun into a strike with the other side of his sword, but Maul impaled him before the blow could connect.
The others reached Maul, deciding to rush and surround him. The center primitive made a motion with his hands, and Maul was pulled into the formation. The force using tribal readied his blade to strike at Maul's neck, while the others ran to flank Maul, but the blade was once again cut by the Sith Lord's saber. Propelling past the tribal, Maul slashed at his chest and slew the alien.
Maul landed, wrathful and fed up, digging his heels in the sand. Four aliens remained, and he put his force defences up in anticipation of another attempt to pull him. He charged forward, holding his lightsaber with both hands. The aliens braced themselves, a strange mix of fear and anger invading their minds. They fanned out to avoid all being cut down with a single strike.
Twirling his blades, Maul ran forward at a blinding speed. When he reached the outermost alien, he turned his left blade into an attack. Surprisingly, the alien dodged, but Maul spun his other blade and cut the alien across the collarbone. The others inched closer to Maul, realizing he was too dangerous to be allowed to determine the pace.
The aliens followed a similar attack as before, with two approaching Maul from the sides whilst the other went down the middle. Tired of this game, Maul, with a surprising amount of required effort, force choked the leftmost alien. As it gagged and kicked its legs, Maul pushed it into the center alien. By this time, the alien on the right had reached Maul.
The alien swatted its bone blade at Maul's neck desperately, but Maul ducked, returning the favor with a stab through the chest. Their faces came very close, and Maul realized every alien had their face covered completely.
Maul gorged on its pain as life slowly drained from its body, Maul being able to feel its body slowly lose energy and recede into death. Once it was dead, Maul pushed the alien to the ground and deactivated his lightsaber.
The two remaining aliens got up, but Maul, suddenly gripped by intellectual interest, didn't have time for them. He raised his hands, dark energy crackling from one to another, until he unleashed a stream of lightning upon his enemies. They wailed in pain for seconds on end, and Maul became impatient. In the end, he gripped them with force and finished them in the same way as he did their comrades, with two stabs to the gut.
Maul noted his failure to kill with Sith lightning, but quickly moved on to try and determine the species of his adversaries. Moving over to the closest cadaver, he slowly peeled away the face mask to reveal dark red skin. Many protrusions were scattered among its face, but the greatest were two tentacles near the bottom of the being's head. It's eyes were a faded grey, a feature probably denoting blindness. Maul searched his memory, and this matched what he had read of Pureblood sith, not including the lack of eyesight.
That didn't make any sense, however. The original sith race had died out a millenia ago, its last members mating with humans until the bloodline was completely diluted. There couldn't have been any sith left on Korriban. Or, at least, there shouldn't have been.
Maul, in the middle of the raging sandstorm, sat down to meditate. Searching his surroundings, he hoped to reveal more of these sith. They were the perfect hunt, being more aware than other prey due to their force sensitivity.
Bone through hide, although both were dark in nature.
Maul took off once more, deviating ever so slightly from his previous path. The wind screeched as he ran against it, but it held no power over him. Soon enough, near the top of another dune, Maul spotted two sith who were skinning a tukata, a native predator deeply connected to the dark side.
The sith sensed Maul and began to shout and taunt at him. Purposefully leaving his lightsaber on his belt, Maul force jumped up the hill, and landed right in front of the sith duo. The sand didn't support him, and he slid back a foot before being forced to jump again. All the while the sith swung hopelessly for him, but he landed, secure in his footing this time, and slugged the closest sith in the face.
The tribal recoiled, and his partner attempted to counter. In response, Maul tripped the sith he knocked, grabbing his bone sword from the air in blinding speed and slashing at the other's chest. The blow was blocked crudely, causing matter rubbing against matter to screech offensively. Maul brought the second blade up for a surprise attack, but the sith stepped back.
His friend rolled down the hill uncontrollably, and his helplessness seemed to anger the other sith, a feeling that Maul fed upon. The sith was the first to approach, bringing his offhand blade down at nine o' clock, but Maul blocked with his opposite blade. The sith broke the clash with a sweeping slice of his other blade, but Maul ducked and swiped at the sith's feet. It jumped, and spun its blades defensively as it rolled forward. Maul thrusted one of his blades in the mix, and with another counter caught the sith's face with a slash across the face, ruining its flow and forcing it to crash into the sand. It rolled down the dune like his companion, blood staining the already hate-tainted sand.
Maul slid down on his feet, and he watched the sith slowly recover from their blunders. The first that he struck was barely at his knees when Maul reached the bottom, sword at the ready. The sith's mask was pulled from its face, and it's white, blind eyes stared blankly at Maul, although some emotion-beyond the comprehension and yet familiar to Maul-bled from the alien's grimace. A forlorn feeling inhabited the darkest recesses of Maul's mind, something he had left buried but had now awakened. Angered at the prospect of remembering, Maul struck the sith at the neck. Blood spewed from the wound, and the sith spasmed before falling to the sand dead.
The first sith's companion squealed in pain and anger, but Maul had suddenly lost his taste for such emotions. He raised his hands, and blasted the alien with true Sith lightning. His combatant screamed, but Maul was numb. Growing tired of such sadism, Maul ceased his barrage. The alien's skin bubbled from the heat of the lightning whilst smoke seeped off of his body. Maul unhooked his lightsaber and ended its pain with an uninterested brush of red.
Maul stood in place, lightsaber still thrumming with life, and he thought of nothing. Attempting to clear the mental fog, he recited the sith code obsessively, over and over, inside his head:
Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The force shall free me.
He took a deep breath.
Once the numbness receded and the thought of his current task returned, he deactivated his weapon and searched the area for further signs of the two sith's hunt. No footprints revealed themselves, for the sandstorm swiftly would've covered them, but four or five dozen meters away he found the corpse of another sith. A female, unarmed and covered in bites. She was killed recently, probably mauled by the Tukata. Satisfied, but still curious of where the sith came from, he sat down to meditate for a third time.
Maul's mind was clouded, and the fog was difficult to pierce. Somehow, he managed, and suddenly felt compelled to veer Northeast. He sensed something over there, something darker than and yet connected to the sith Maul had encountered.
Long forgotten, but long living.
Running for a short while, Maul reached the edge of an upward sloping chasm. It was steep enough to defy the unworthy, but the strong could trek up it with some difficulty. Going down was a simple endeavor, however, as Maul slid down the rock face, landing in a pile of forgotten sand. The cave was dank and dark, but Maul could still sense the ongoings via the force. Small ecosystems ran themselves in the most obscure recesses of the cave. Tiny organisms sacrificed to feed those bigger than themselves, only for those lucky few to end up in the stomach of a Tukata.
The cave itself tapered off into a small, forgotten crevice that had the scent of the sith on it. Specifically, the ones Maul had slain. Besides that, Maul felt as if it hadn't been traversed for centuries. Walking up to it, he discovered why, as many twists and turns-as well as changes in elevation-blocked the path of any who wished to traverse the crack. Maul himself was dauntless, and squeezed his lean figure through the crack, jumping and climbing through each obstacle until he reached the end.
Maul dropped into the side of a large antechamber. Although just as dark and dank as the cave, the stone was purposefully carved and inscribed with stories of duels and conquests uncountable, such as what was characteristic of Ancient Sith Tombs. Maul momentarily lost all awareness of his organic surroundings, until he realised the inscriptions were covered by numerous tents, and all housed sith who already had felt the disturbance in the force and armed themselves.
Maul felt their presence as they did his, and he drew his lightsaber. His previous duel had made him impatient with these tribals, and he wished to end this battle quickly. The enemy charged from all sides, recklessly flinging themselves at the sith lord. He charged back, breaking from the center of the room through two sith. He slashed at both, and they fell quickly.
Horns clash despite the futility.
Maul found himself with his back against one of the tents, but the enemy had arrayed themselves before him chaotically and without a possible defense. Their thoughtless charge ensured that. Maul ran forward with his lightsaber and struck two more dead.
From a young age they fought. Prepared for mating.
Maul cried out in anger, his attacks becoming more frantic. Two sith swung for his head, but he rolled forward and caught them both with a spin of his saber. He ended up in the middle of a grouping, all of which flung themselves onto him. Wrestling for a second, Maul force repulsed them out of anger. One female stood in place, somehow resisting the attack. In fact, she raised her fingertips, and they spit lightning. Maul blocked the barrage with his lightsaber, sprinting up and cutting off the woman's hands before ending her with a stab to the torso.
The strong survive, the weak are killed. Such is the way of things.
The room was filled with the rustling of destroyed tents and cries of pain. Few sith remained, but they still somehow had courage. Shouting, the final two sith that could still stand raised their weapons and ran at Maul. With some difficulty, he picked them both up with the force, electrifying them and sending them barreling into the walls. The impact cracked the inscriptions, but Maul was too flustered to notice. Why did these tribals remind him of them?
They trained, only to be slain during mating, or an impossible trial. A climb up a cliff, just to realize there was no peak.
These tribals used sith weapons-double bladed swords. They were crude, being made of bone, but they were still sith inspired. The Sith Lord buried in this tomb must have used a similar weapon, Maul thought. Seeing as they were able to harness the force to some extent, there must have been a holocron or two within the tomb. Or, perhaps the hieroglyphs held some modicum of wisdom. In the end, however, these sith were imitators. No matter their bloodline, they knew nothing of real power. Maul supposed that was what reminded him of the Night Brothers, and of Dathomir.
He had forgotten those days, though. There was nothing for him in remembering them. The Night Brothers were, in the end, weak. They played at real power, but their subordination to the Night Sisters limited them greatly. None had true power. None were Sith. Maul was better than them, infact, he hated them.
The room remained in a constant cycle of painful groaning and death, and finally all the sith were incapacitated. However, Maul could feel more were coming, roused to action by the disturbing sounds of battle, but one presence towered over all others. It was on the entirely different end of the tomb, but the presence was still strong, even through stone and steel.
For reasons beyond Maul's comprehension, his interest was piqued. Despite his disinterest with the sith tribals before, he lusted after confronting this power. However, there was an army between him and this presence, and a large group was knocking directly on his door. Jogging up to the chamber's door, he blew it off its hinges with a push, and a disturbing crunch indicated that many a sith were in its path. Blood flowed and puddled on the floor, just as the bodies of the remaining sith did in Maul's wake. He had no patience. He had to face this presence, and the filth between him and it made no difference. He would kill every worm, shyrack, tukata, and sith on Korriban just for a chance to prove himself.
His path of destruction led to a large hall with uncountable intersecting pathways. However, the only destination that mattered to him was the grand durasteel door housing that he sought. More sith flooded into the hall, in panic for their leader, but they were swatted away. The durasteel, although resistant, was useless against Maul's blade. He began to cut a circle, but it could barely be called a semi before the door creaked open.
As the door opened, Maul began to sense the entire chamber. It was a place of power, he realized, the burial place of an ancient Sith warlord. The sarcophagus was raided, however, and desecrated by the false throne of this sith pretender. The Chief himself seemed unimpressive, child in tow, but Maul's perceptions seemed uncertain when the sith activated a crimson, double bladed lightsaber.
"Stay Stai. Nu Valia Zudyti Sis invader!" the Chief yelled, twirling his blades and lunging at Maul with hate in his eyes. They met blade to blade, but Maul felt...something was wrong. This sith was slightly weaker, slightly slower, and slightly weaker willed than him at every turn. Was this the only thing this sith had for him? Was there nothing on this planet to prove he himself was Sith? Tiring of the fight, Maul gripped the Chief's neck with the force.
The sith struggled, and his child screamed, but Maul didn't care. His life drained out. Only by the sith's power in the force did he keep his neck from being snapped. In annoyance, Maul scrambled to end it, throwing the sith into the wall, door, floor, but the damned alien persisted. In desperation, Maul lifted his lightsaber, pulled the sith towards the blade, and impaled him through the heart.
The chief's child yelped in agony, falling to his knees. Maul, becoming aware of the child once more, approached it slowly. Raising his lightsaber, he decided this would be a worthy test. He struck, swift and strong, but the blade stopped short of its mark, shaking as it burned into the child's cheek. Maul, bewildered, stared at the child in the eye, who returned his gaze with one of resentment. The child screamed, and the power blew the stunned Maul into the wall.
The child attempted to lift Maul in the air, and even was successful for a moment until the Sith Lord regained his focus. Once again approaching the defenseless child, he snatched the sith's wrist and lifted it into the air. He activated his lightsaber again, the child screeching in terror, and pulled it into a backswing.
He came at night, a master only by name. I didn't think he held any power over me.
Maul paused. For some reason, he found himself unable to kill this sith. The child cried and wailed his free arm, but Maul wasn't angry. If anything, Maul felt pity for him.
But Maul wanted to be angry, to strike this child down ruthlessly, and storm out of this tomb he had invaded. He just...couldn't bring himself to. It infuriated Maul to no end, and perhaps the child as well.
The sith had quieted down, looking with a defeated look towards the floor, and with a layer of tears at the corner of his white, blind eye. He seemed ready to die - to have accepted his coming death as well as anybody could have. Maul did nothing, however, but stared at the sith absent-mindedly. Soon, the sith's tension was lost, and he returned Maul's stare.
Maul wasn't sure what he could do. He told himself to leave the sith in the tomb to die, but...he couldn't make himself. Taking him would be a betrayal to Sidious...but couldn't that be a good thing? Maul wasn't sure. All he knew was that he wouldn't leave the child to die. So, after putting it to sleep with the force, he hoisted the sith onto his back, and ran out of the tomb, grabbing the chief's lightsaber on the way out.
The ramp to Maul's ship lurched downward slowly, until he had pulled it down with frustration. The sandstorm had intensified during Maul's time in the tomb, and the Alien boy was ill-equipped to thrive in such an environment. Maul could feel the boy's breath had become laboured, and so made haste to his ship. There, Maul could decide what to do.
After laying the boy down onto the co-pilot's seat, Maul rang for his master, leaving a message that provoked urgency:
I have found something that might interest you.
Beyond that, Maul sat and waited, studying the lightsaber he had plundered from the chief's corpse just before he had left. It was an ancient design, although less ancient than he would've thought. It was characteristic of the lightsabers used by Sith Assassins during the Cold-War between the Old Republic and Sith Empire. Maul wondered what other secrets could've been uncovered in the time capsule-esque tomb, but was interrupted by an incoming transmission.
"Maul," said Sidious.
"Master…" Maul responded, exiting his seat and kneeling.
"You said you found something of interest?"
"Yes…" Maul trailed off, looking at the sith child, "I found a group of sith purebloods. I slew most of them, but I thought you would've taken interest in this child."
Sidious turned his head towards the unconscious sith. "Kill him. I have no need for rivals," Sidious said with disinterest, "Send me a recording of the act within the hour."
Maul lowered his head once more, "Yes, Master," he answered. The transmission ended, and although it was short, it brought much conflict within Maul. Once again glancing at the child, he grit his teeth. There was no disobeying Sidious. Maul was to follow his Master's orders, or die. Despite Sidious' own status as an apprentice, Maul knew that he was no match for his master, nor would he ever be.
The sith stirred in his sleep, turning away from Maul in the co-pilot's chair. Maul didn't think he could disobey Sidious, but the thought still remained. A rebellious fragment that only grew the more he loathed it. Maul wondered what about this filth would stay his hand, but he came up with no answer. Standing up, Maul decided he would finish this at home. It only took fifteen minutes to get back, so he would still have plenty of time to send Sidious what he wanted.
The ship angled upward, and with a groan the engines boosted upward through the atmosphere. Via a homing beacon, Maul tracked his space station to its current position in orbit and slid through the hangar, making perfect time. Grabbing the child once more, Maul made the short trek towards his quarters, setting the child down at his desk. The space station Maul inhabited was small, only containing room for a hangar, his room, and vital systems.
Maul's quarters were sparse and utilitarian in nature, with tools, books, and holocrons strewn throughout, and a bacta tank crudely placed in one of the corners. One small space was cleared of all clutter, however. A circle surrounding a battered droid, with multiple burn marks across its armor. Its oval head tapered down into its synthetic mouth, which itself led down into a deceivingly non-threatening body - one that resembled certain protocol droids. It's eyes flickered with life, and after a long and withdrawn booting sequence it readied itself to greet its master.
"Greeting: Good day, Master! Do you require my services for an...extermination?" It asked robotically, scanning the child.
"HK-49, is your camera functioning?" Maul inquired, disinterested in engaging with the droid.
"Statement: Yes, Master," the droid answered, "Inquiry: Why do you ask?"
"I am required to film…" Maul grimaced at the child, "this child's death and send it to Sidious within the hour."
"Eager response: Then let's get it over with," The droid said, its eyes turning red. It drew a blaster pistol from within a compartment in its leg.
Fear gripped Maul by the throat, and he was left without words to respond. However, the fear turned into a sudden intervention.
"Wait!" He said with desperation.
"Agitated retort: For what? Your master to come and kill you?" The droid asked rhetorically, "Logical Assertion: You said it must be done within the hour, so let it be done."
"I'm…" Maul hesitated, "I'm not sure if killing the child would be wise."
"Sarcastic response: Really, Master? Would it also be beneficial if I shot you in the head? Because it seems to me that your master values this child's death highly."
"Betrayal is the way of the Sith," Maul argued, unsure of his own words.
"Inquiry: Yes, but what is the point of leaving this grub alive? Isn't it also the way of the Sith to pick their battles wisely? To plan their betrayals?" The droid argued, "Statement: I say that if you're to betray your master, that you'd better have a plan."
Maul glanced at his clock. He had half a standard hour to send the recording.
"We have records on sith pureblood anatomy and physiology, correct?" Maul asked.
"Confirmation: Yes, I believe we do," The droid answered, "Inquiry: Why do you ask?"
"Gather them."
HK-49 tilted its head "Inquiry: Are you alright, Master? You haven't sustained any damage to the cranium?"
"Quickly now! We don't have much time!" Maul commanded.
"Hesitant Compliance: Of course, Master," HK-49 said with disdain, walking around, scanning the titles of books and contents of holocrons. Maul also pitched in, whisking the relevant pieces of literature and tech and gathering them on his desk, all next to the child. Soon enough, HK-49 came with a small pile of books and holocrons, laying them lazily next to the pile Maul had gathered.
"Inquiry: What is your plan, Master?"
"We don't need to kill the child. Only to make it look as if we did," Maul reasoned.
"Reasoning: So, you wish to find a non-lethal way to injure the child that looks convincing enough?" the droid realized, "Snarky response: Well, go ahead. I'm sure you could go through all of this in one hour," HK-49 teased, turning from Maul.
Maul himself was too focused to care, searching through a book he remembered to have multiple diagrams of the sith anatomy. Finding his mark, he remembered that sith were only slightly different from other humanoids, with uniquely shaped organs, but mostly retaining the same basic positions and functions. Looking at a diagram briefly, Maul spotted a small area in which nothing vital lay. If he impaled the sith at an angle, he could avoid injuring it too badly. However, the question of how he would treat its injuries remained. Maul remembered that HK droids were equipped with some medical knowledge, just so that they would be able to prolong an injured target's life for extraction. They were, afterall, primarily assassination droids.
"HK," Maul called out.
"Hesitant response: Yes, Master?"
"Prepare to treat a stab wound through the child's lower abdomen," Maul ordered. "Also, fire up your recording software."
"Elated response: You've found a way, master?"
"Yes. Hurry now," Maul said, once more checking the time, "We only have twenty minutes."
HK-49 stood in his original position, and his eyes turned red once more. Maul, however, went to the desk, waving his hand in order to awaken the sleeping child. Grabbing him by the neck as soon as he stirred, Maul intended to make this painful. In that way, Maul's cruelty could become more believable. The child began to scream as it did before, flailing its limbs in the air. Maul, trying to imitate his own sadism, dragged the child in front of HK.
"As you requested, Master," He hissed, pulling his lightsaber off of his belt, and stabbing the child in the back at an angle. The blade 'vrumed' sickeningly, and the child groaned in pain. Tossing the sith aside, and trying to seem casual, Maul bowed.
"HK-49, end the recording," Maul paused, glacing guiltily at the sith, "...and tend to the child," Maul said, the sith still groaning in pain loudly in the background.
"Compliant Response: Yes, Master. I'll upload it to your computer."
Maul walked over to his desk, trying to not ponder the cruelty he had just inflicted. Instead, he opened up the video in order to inspect it. It seemed convincing enough, besides Maul's comment at the end. Cutting his last comment out of the video, he sent it to his Master's holo. He sighed in relief, looking back to the child. The sith was still croaking in anguish, which made Maul rise once more, only to put it to sleep.
"That should make your task easier," Maul said to HK-49.
"Agitated response: I enjoy the pained cries of meatbags, Master."
Maul didn't acknowledge HK-49's comment, but rather made for the door.
"I'm heading back to my ship. If you get any transmissions from Sidious, reroute them to my holo," Maul informed the droid.
"Indifferent confirmation: As you wish, Master."