Rhea's heart nearly stops when the woman with Major Draven suddenly jumps on the table and pulls out two lightsabers. She stares Maul down. She's clearly Jedi, she knows who Maul is, and she's not happy to see him. The way she says his name conveys pure contempt.
"Maul."
It's one syllable, but it says a great deal.
"Lady Tano," he answers.
Maul turns cool eyes on the seething, hostile woman. He crosses his arms—moving them away from the weapon at his waist-and raises an eyebrow.
"Going to tell me you were hoping for Kenobi?" the woman jeers down at him as her swords hum.
"No," he answers calmly. "I was going to say that I'm glad you lived. Surprised . . . but glad."
Rhea turns worried eyes on Maul as she instinctively starts backing for the door behind them. Because when it comes to fight or flight, she always chooses the latter. But without removing his eyes from the looming woman high on the table, Maul snakes a firm hand out to nab Rhea. He doesn't want to retreat. He stands his ground.
"I see you two know each other . . ." It's Major Draven speaking.
Both the Sith and the Jedi ignore him completely.
After taking a moment to eye the fuming Togruta who has now sunk into a battle posture, Maul remarks offhand, "It's been a minute. I thought you went down with the ship." His voice is a casual drawl that indicates no concern at her threat.
"I almost did," the woman hisses, "No thanks to you. A lot of clones died on that ship."
"Which is why you survived, I presume."
"They were good men. Acting under control of your old Master," the woman retorts.
Wary Rhea casts her eyes about the room. Major Draven and Senator Organa look from the Jedi on the table to Maul and then back again. Neither knows what to make of the situation. Clearly, this wasn't some sort of trap. The rebel leaders look as shocked as Rhea is at the tense standoff. No one saw this conflict coming.
Maul still hasn't pulled his own weapon, Rhea notes with growing concern. It's not like him to walk away from a provocation. His reticence must be purposeful, she decides. So she attempts to gulp back her fear and trust in his judgement. What happens next is very important. For Maul, for her, for the fledgling rebellion, and for the galaxy.
With all eyes on him, Maul now elegantly requests them all to get out. "May we have the room please?" He shoots Rhea a quick glance and adds, "You too," as he squeezes her hand for reassurance.
It doesn't help. Because does he want rid of them because in close quarters the coming swordfight will cause collateral damage? Now, Rhea is really worried. "I'm not leaving," she whispers back.
Her voice must carry above the buzzing lightsabers because Major Draven nods his agreement. "I'm staying too."
The aggressive Togruta endorses this view. "No one leaves," she announces. "Everyone needs to hear this." Turning a scowl on Maul, she demands, "What are you doing here?"
The confused Draven answers. "He's building our army. Maul has been tasked to stockpile weapons and supplies for us at his bases."
"Maul is your guy in the underworld?" The Jedi woman is incredulous. Eyes wide and jaw dropped. "This is the spice guy? Darth Maul?"
Heretofore silent Bail Organa is aghast. "Darth?" the Senator chokes. "Did she say Darth?" he looks first to Draven and then to Rhea in flustered alarm.
"Yes, Darth." The Togruta confirms.
"Not Darth," Maul complains with a heavy sigh and rolling yellow eyes. "I haven't been Darth since about the time you were born. Which, of course, you know."
"He's one of us? That's what you're telling me?" the Jedi demands of the Senator.
"Well, yes." Bail Organa shifts his weight. "At least, I think so . . ."
"He's a Sith!" she hisses.
Now, it's Maul's turn to scowl. "I'm no more a Sith than you are a Jedi," he asserts. "We were both thrown out, were we not?"
"I left! I was reinstated and then I left!"
"You left in disgrace," Maul snaps. "But I commend you. You saw that those fools on the Jedi Council had lost their way. You knew they were beholden to a too tenured grandmaster who somehow overlooked a Sith lord in the Chancellor's office. Yoda was too busy mentoring Darth Sidious' budding young Apprentice hidden in their midst to notice that phantom menace."
The woman is on the defensive now. She shrieks, "That vision—that vision you claimed on Mandalore—it was a lie!"
Rhea and everyone else in the room isn't following, but the two Force-users don't seem to notice. It's like they are the only two people in the room as they tangle with words as a prelude to swords.
Maul now practically purrs, "Search your feelings, Lady Tano, and you will know it to be true."
"It's a lie! What game are you playing?" the woman demands as she stalks forward. She perches tall on the end of the table and lifts her longer sword to poise at Maul's throat.
He doesn't so much as flinch.
But Rhea does. Suddenly, she is far less concerned that Crimson Dawn stays on the good side of the rebels than she is that Maul gets out of this alive. So, worried for where this is going, she steps forward and opens her mouth. It's a rare show of self-confidence motivated by concern for Maul. "Stop it! Stop it now!" she orders to the Jedi. "Put those swords away! He is unarmed!"
"I've seen what he can do without a weapon—"
"Turn those off and let's talk this out like reasonable people!" Rhea screeches. Her voice is vehement even if her lips are trembling. She darts pleading eyes to Bail Organa hoping he will take the hint to intervene. "The past was a long time ago and much has changed," Rhea maintains.
The Togruta ignores her. "What game are you playing, Maul?"
He shrugs. "Treason. Rebellion. Liberty and justice for all. That sort of thing. It's the same game you're playing." He smirks up at her. "I told you years ago on Mandalore that we should join forces to defeat the Sith. That whole last stint on Mandalore was a ruse to kill Darth Vader before he outed himself and began his purge—"
"He is not Darth Vader!"
"—but your Master sent you instead while he went to kill Dooku and become the Apprentice—"
"You lie! You lied then and you lie now! He is not Darth Vader!" The Togruta woman is adamant.
"Now, years later, the Force has managed to bring us together despite your refusal." Maul makes a convincing smile as he nods, "This is good. This is very good. Search your feelings and open your mind to the possibilities."
"I'll never join you!" the Jedi woman disavows. She keeps her sword poised at his throat. It's way too close for comfort. And since Rhea is standing next to Maul, she takes a long step back.
"Oh, but you already have. Don't you see?" Maul goads her. "The Major just told you—we're all on the same side now."
"No! I'll never join you!"
Rhea is uncertain what to do as her eyes dart from one combatant to the other. Why doesn't the Senator intervene? He's the ranking rebel in the room. Bail Organa needs to do something. Rhea always knew that Maul's Sith past posed a risk of ruining his plans. Suddenly that risk has come to fruition. Things feel like they are unraveling before her eyes. She fears for where this will lead next.
But Maul is calm as he intones, "The Jedi Order turned on you . . . your Master turned on you . . . I know it's hard to accept. My Master turned on me as well. I know that pain, Lady Tano. I have lived it. But you must face up to who he is now. He is Darth Vader and he must be stopped."
Major Draven is confused. "Will someone tell me what's going on? You were supposed to be a witch, not a Sith," he accuses to Maul.
"He's both," the Jedi confirms. "He's Mother Talzin's son and Darth Sidious' Apprentice. Didn't he tell you? Before there was Vader, there was Dooku. And before there was Dooku, there was Maul. Darth Maul."
"What have we done?" the Senator gulps, looking across to Draven in dismay.
The Major crosses his arms. "Ahsoka, turn those swords off. Rhea is right. Let's talk. I'd like to hear the facts before we jump to conclusions."
"Yes, please," anxious looking Bail Organa requests. "I'd like an explanation," he orders to Maul, "but I forbid violence." He shoots the Jedi a pointed look.
Rhea nods emphatically too. In any other setting, if someone pulls a weapon, Maul meets that aggression with immediate deadly force. This is not a man who backs down from conflict. As a rule, he refuses to be intimidated. That's why watching him attempt to talk his way out of this standoff has Rhea very worried. Regardless of what the Senator says, she'd feel a lot better if Maul had a lit sword in his hand right now.
But Maul keeps playing it cool, standing down but standing his ground. He's making the Jedi woman look like the unreasonable one, Rhea realizes.
"Ahsoka?" the Senator prods with a hard look.
The Togruta deactivates her swords, but remains atop the table. She's keeping the high ground, Rhea notices. The Jedi is very sure of herself. With her lifted chin and her upright carriage, she fairly radiates confidence. It's the moxy Rhea wishes she herself had. Does that come from being a demigod born with the magical Force? Or does that come from being raised from infancy to believe that you are special? Because this woman, like the other Jedi woman Rhea met on Nal Hutta, seems like she can handle anything.
"Well, Maul?" the Senator prompts. "We'd like an explanation."
"Lady Tano here freed me from Republic custody at the war's end," Maul begins.
"You were a diversion!"
He nods. "The purge had begun and the clones were after her. I helped her escape."
"You did not!"
"I was the diversion you wanted, was I not?" In contrast to the woman's taut face and loud accusations, Maul is even tempered. Almost as if this were a friendly conversation swapping war stories about the good old days and not a trial of his merits.
Maul flashes a rare grin and cajoles, "Admit it, you were hoping the clones would kill me instead. So you freed me without a weapon with an entire legion chasing me. That was badly done, Lady Tano," Maul chides. "Not sporting at all. There you were with two sabers just like now, and poor defenseless me with none. Not very Jedi-like of you." He shakes his head at her in mock reproof.
"I see the rumors are true and you survived anyway," she responds bitterly.
"I'm a hard man to kill," Maul brags. "And there are no rumors. It's no secret that I survived. I have lived in the open all these years. Whereas you have been in hiding, I presume."
"Why aren't you dead?"
"I told you. I'm a hard man to kill. Where have you been? With Kenobi?"
"He's dead."
"Liar," Maul accuses casually and the woman doesn't deny it. Her flushed cheeks are a silent admission of guilt.
She starts in on her denunciations again. "This man was a Sith! He is the enemy! He cannot be trusted!"
Maul smirks. "Haven't you heard? The enemy of your enemy is your friend."
"Not necessarily," the woman retorts. "He might just be another enemy."
"Maul's going to kill Darth Vader for us," Draven points out. "That's sort of a hard position to fill these days—"
"Is it true? Is the Emperor your Master?" Bail Organa interrupts. "Are you Darth Maul?" he asks point blank.
"Not anymore." Maul holds the Senator's gaze as he answers. "I was never Sith by choice. The Sith took everything from me. Ripped me from my mother's arms, murdered my brother, murdered my mother, destroyed my homeworld, used me as a weapon, and then cast me aside. They abandoned me after I served their purpose, and then I was replaced." His words drip with bitterness. Their intensity is uncomfortable even for Rhea who already knows the tale.
Yellow eyes revert to the Togruta now. "Parents used to voluntarily surrender their children to the Jedi. But Mother never surrendered me. I was ten years old when Darth Sidious tricked her and stole me to raise me as his Apprentice." Maul's gaze narrows on Bail Organa now as he whispers, "Do you know what a Sith lord does to a groom a Force-strong child?"
Suddenly, the Senator looks very uncomfortable. "I can imagine. I have imagined . . ." he says vaguely.
"I was gaslighted from the first day. Told I was chosen, not stolen. That I should be grateful for the opportunity to serve the future Emperor. I believed it. I was ten! Only much later did I realize that Sidious took me to make me his ally."
"Because he feared you would become a threat to him," Bail Organa answers immediately, looking increasingly uncomfortable.
"Precisely! He had a plan. Darth Sidious always has a plan." Maul's eyes dart back to the Togruta. "Tell me, how is your old Master? Since we're bringing up ancient history, does everyone here know who you are to Darth Vader?"
Bail Organa really looks uncomfortable now.
"That vision was a lie!" the woman howls.
"Lady Tano here was the Padawan to the Jedi Knight who became Darth Vader," Maul announces.
"That's a lie!"
"So, you see, if my past training calls my motives and allegiance into question, then so does yours," Maul reasons. "For I am not the only one who in my formative years was close to a Sith lord."
The woman poses with her hands on her hips and sneers, "No one ever called me Darth."
"We could do it together, you and I," Maul makes his pitch. "I imagine his fighting style has changed to accommodate his injuries, but you know his every move and tactic. Like every good master, Vader taught you all he knew, right?"
"It's never been proven who Darth Vader is!" the Jedi woman continues her denials.
"Come, come, my old friend. We both know he is—"
"Sorry I'm late." The door now opens to admit the latecomer Raddus. He takes in the dramatic scene. "Ahsoka? Why are you on the table?" The Mon Calamari blinks his huge, expressive eyes up at her. "What did I miss?" he grumbles.
The Jedi responds with an accusing finger pointed at Maul. "This man is a Sith lord! He has infiltrated our cause and will betray us!"
"He's not a Sith, he's a witch. Right?" The big fish man looks to Maul.
"Right," he confirms. "Tell them, Lady Tano. Tell them from whence I hail."
"He's from Dathomir. His mother is the head witch of their local cult."
"Mother was the head witch. She's dead now. The Emperor killed her. She died saving me from his rage. But he and Dooku had already overrun Dathomir and committed genocide of our kind. Like they did to your people," Maul looks pointedly at Raddus.
"Your brother was Dooku's Apprentice!" the Jedi alleges.
Senator Organa looks to Maul with raised eyebrows.
"That's true," Maul nods back at him. "It was Mother's ruse to get close to Sidious and Dooku so we could kill them. But the ploy failed. The Emperor killed my brother. Then Sidious did his best to wipe the Witches of Dathomir from the galaxy. We were the first purge, Lady Tano. Before your Jedi brethren were marked for execution, the Sith slaughtered my people."
When she says nothing, Maul continues. "He used us—first me and then sad Sister Ventress and even poor Savage—as tools to achieve his aims. Once Sidious got what he wanted, he destroyed us all. Lady Tano, you are not the only one disillusioned and chagrined for having followed a faithless Master. Along the way, we were all duped by Darth Sidious."
Is he merely playing to his audience? To Rhea's ears, it sounds like Maul fully believes what he says. And maybe he does, but he also loves his father still. And that love keeps him trapped and ripe for manipulation, she fears. Still, his participation in this rebellion—however it turns out—is a huge step forward for Maul. An attempt to confront his father and remake his future as something other than a loser in the power plays of the Jedi and the Sith.
"So, you've seen the Light? Is that your tale?" the cynical Jedi purses her lips.
"Oh, no," Maul purrs. "I've seen Darkness. Darkness like you cannot begin to fathom. It's how I know Vader and the Emperor must be stopped. This is a political cause for you, but it is a personal quest for me."
"Let me guess—you want revenge?" she nods knowingly.
"I want a reckoning. Call it revenge, call it justice, call it closure, but I will bring Vader and the Emperor to account for their actions." Maul holds forth a gloved hand now, much to the Jedi's obvious discomfort. "This time, will you join me?" he practically coos. "With your Light and my Darkness united, we will be formidable when we face them."
"I'll never join you!" is his answer.
Gruff Raddus says what the other men are thinking: "I don't understand. What does all this history mean? What's really going on?"
"It means he will betray us. He cannot be trusted," the Togruta on the table concludes.
Draven looks unconcerned. "We got past his current day job and past his Mandalore antics. Mothma's okay with it," he shrugs. "Plus, we have no evidence that Maul is disloyal."
"He's been a great asset," Raddus chimes in. "He's hiding our fledgling army at his spice gang bases."
"How convenient," the Jedi woman is sarcastic.
Maul starts asking the questions now. "What is it you do for our effort?" he demands of his accuser.
Draven answers for her. "Ahsoka runs intelligence missions for me. She's a go-between for our cells in the Rim."
"I see. She's a good choice for that," Maul decides.
"And she has done her part in assisting surviving Jedi," Bail Organa speaks up.
"Mostly, I have been helping to hide Force sensitive children from the Empire," the Jedi volunteers.
"An admirable task," Maul approves.
"They're killing them mostly," the Jedi woman laments.
"Naturally," Maul observes, "because their potential makes them a threat. It's the same reason Vader purged the Jedi and Dooku murdered the Nightsisters. They—like us—present an existential threat."
"Then why are you still alive?" she challenges.
"You know why."
"Because you are their secret ally!"
"No. Because I am misjudged to be a very minimal threat."
Does everyone realize how humbling that statement is for Maul to admit? Rhea does.
The Jedi frowns. "I've seen what you can do."
"So have I," Draven concurs.
"Thank you for that," Maul acknowledges, "but the Emperor and Vader do not share your appraisal. And since I do not openly oppose them, I am tolerated. You, however, will not be tolerated. Watch yourself, Lady Tano. Vader will not want reminders of his old life."
"My Master is not Darth Vader!" she huffs.
Maul gives her a look of sympathy. "I'm sorry. Truly, I am."
"How did you come to be one of us?" she asks, immediately changing the subject.
"Venamis recruited him," Draven volunteers.
"You know the prince?" The Togruta looks to Maul.
"We go way back," he assures her.
"No one has more credibility around here than Venamis," Bail Organa reminds everyone, in what surely must be the most ironic of the deceptions afoot. Darth Plagueis plotted the downfall of the Republic and the Jedi Order in the first place. But only she and Maul know that. The Senator now lauds, "Prince Venamis has been a silent partner since the very beginning and a savior to many Jedi."
"This is good," Maul again tries to cajole his angry foe perched on the table. "This means the Force is with us. When people from differing backgrounds and diffuse creeds come together in furtherance of an idea, they are powerful. This is the essence of the Republic. Lady Tano, come down from there. Let us forget the past and work for a better tomorrow." Again, he offers his hand in a show of magnanimity.
She jumps down but shakes her head. "I'll never join you," she nearly spits. "Senator, a word if you please." She nearly propels the much taller, broader Bail Organa from the room.
That leaves Rhea, Major Draven, and Raddus all looking to Maul in confusion.
"Will someone please tell me what the Hell just happened?" Raddus blusters to break the silence.
The rebel spymaster Draven too looks irked. "Great, just great." He kicks viciously at a chair to vent his temper. "We came here to devise a plan for more unity and see what happens? Maul has moved us farther forward in six months than in all the years of planning that preceded him. But now we're back to second guessing him. We're wasting time," he complains, "while people die on Mimban."
Rhea looks from the exasperated Major Draven to scowling Maul and decides she has been silent long enough. She rushes through the doorway and follows the Senator and that dismissive, unforgiving Jedi.
"Wait!" Rhea hollers with an authority that surprises even herself.
The pair pauses and turns.
Pulling herself up to her full almost-five-foot height, Rhea brazens her way forward to meet them. Then, she confronts the Jedi. Taking a page out of Maul's tactics, she endeavors to keep her voice steady and calm even as she trembles at her daring. Hopefully, everyone will think she is trembling with outrage and not with anxiety. But this is too important to Rhea for her not to intervene.
"You're asking us to throw away many months of work and millions of credits. You know that, right?" she begins.
The woman nods coolly. "We can't work with Maul. He's a Sith."
"Stop that!" Rhea instantly objects. "Stop hurling accusations and condemning him with labels! Ugly labels with connotations that everyone here understands even if the rest of the galaxy does not. It traps him! You won't allow him to be anything more than what he was thirty years ago! It's like you refuse to admit that people can grow and change. That their views can evolve and who they were or what they said decades ago might not reveal who they are today."
The Jedi woman looks impatient to be away. She simply announces, "Never trust a Sith."
Rhea is truly angry now at her stubborn righteousness. "You know who told me that? He did! Look Lady-whoever-you-are, you know—like we all know—that the Emperor and Vader will not be easy to beat. But who better to beat them than someone who knows exactly how they think?"
"The Sith are never what they seem. He's using us!"
"Where's your proof of that?" Rhea demands hotly. "He's put his entire organization at risk for this rebellion. There's a lot of us in Crimson Dawn depending on him—"
"Yes, and you, like us, are his tool for revenge," the Togruta concludes. She is determined to believe the worst, of course.
"Does it matter why he wants to topple the Empire?" Rhea challenges.
"Yes. It matters that we do it for the right purposes. Or else we might start a civil war and kill people for nothing!" The Jedi crosses her arms and looks down her nose at Rhea. "We did that already in the Clone Wars. I refuse to do that again."
"Because only the pure hearts among us are worthy? Is that it?" Rhea snaps. Her resolve to remain calm and reasonable is lagging. She's getting a little shrill now, but she can't help it. "The past is never the past if we don't allow people to move forward! Maybe he doesn't measure up perfectly to your Jedi standards. Maybe he has said things and has done things what were wrong—very wrong—but he can still be the right man now. Give him a chance!"
"I didn't hear him accepting responsibility. And I didn't hear any statements about how he plans to act going forward," the other woman points out.
She's right. Rhea knows that Maul is unrepentant for his past. He's not sorry for what he did, he's just sorry it didn't work out like he wanted. He ended up the victim, not the victor. But still . . . Rhea firmly believes that whatever his past crimes, Maul is doing the right thing now. And given some encouragement, acceptance, and success, who knows what great things Maul will be capable of? He has all the preparation and ability to be a leader beyond just his gang. His father groomed him to be at the forefront of the galaxy all those years ago.
The Jedi woman knows she has scored a hit. She waits expectantly for Rhea's answer.
So she counters, "If he said those things—would you even listen? Would you accept them?" Rhea raises her chin with indignation. "What's the point of Maul humbling himself if you're only going to condemn him further? So you can smugly flog the reformed sinner and feel good about yourself for it?"
Bail Organa objects to this characterization. "Ms. Cardulla—"
She overrides him. "Senator, maybe Maul's failings weigh against him, but don't let them weigh against us too. Let's stand on his shoulders, and use what he can teach us to make a better future for everyone. You need him to build a rebellion that will succeed. Maul has the skills to lead—and to win!"
"You're asking us to ally with a Sith lord-turned-criminal mastermind? To entrust the future of the rebellion and the lives of thousands to him?" The Jedi woman is incredulous at the very thought.
Rhea now reminds Bail Organa, "Senator, you and the others knew who Maul was when he joined up."
"I knew he was in organized crime. I never knew he was a Sith. That changes things. Surely, you can see that," the very reasonable Bail Organa reasons.
"Two weeks ago, he helped you save a Jedi who the Hutts gifted to him to kill! Does that sound like something a true Sith would do?"
The astute Togruta woman answers, "He might. To fool us."
Rhea argues back, "You're missing the point—he saved that woman's life! And it sounds like he might have helped to save your life once too."
"Hardly. I saved myself," she scoffs.
Whatever. Rhea starts grasping for anything now to convince them of Maul's bona fides. "He's trying to save another Jedi. Some kid on Braca."
"Yes?" The Senator is interested.
"You should talk to him about it. Maybe you could help. He tried to save another Jedi this week but an Inquisitor got there first and killed him. Some Ninth Sister person."
"The Dowutin?"
"I guess. I don't know the details. But the point is to let Maul's current actions speak louder than his past missteps. Give him a chance," she pleads, looking to the Senator.
The Jedi woman shakes her head. "Maul isn't redeemable."
"Who are you to decide that?" Rhea nearly shrieks with outrage.
"Some people are too dangerous, too treacherous, too guilty to get a second chance," she responds. Because apparently being a Jedi makes her the prosecutor, judge, and jury in the matter of Darth Maul.
Rhea fumes. This is just like those idiots on the Jedi Council who thought that assassinating the secret Sith lord Chancellor—the longtime, duly democratically elected secret Sith lord Chancellor—was a good idea. Because despite all the Jedi's public talk about the Republic values of due process and transparency, they felt very comfortable dispensing with those hindrances when it came to the Sith. Moreover, the hypocrisy of it all eluded them. They probably thought they were doing the right thing, Rhea suspects. Because, of course, they were Jedi Knights and they got to decide for everyone, including themselves, what was right and wrong. And no one could question them.
"This is a matter for the leadership to decide, Ahsoka," Bail Organa finally inserts himself. "This is far from settled, but with swords drawn—"
"Only her swords," Rhea says acidly.
"-it seems best to adjourn for now."
"Maul isn't redeemable," the Jedi repeats stubbornly. "Bail, surely you can see that. The Dark Side makes you a monster!"
That blanket, sweeping statement sets Rhea off. "You know, that attitude—the one where you get to decide things for the rest of us—is part of why people by and large accepted the Jedi purge. Because they blamed the Jedi for the war and they were tired of the Jedi's preachy ways. You're so holy and perfect," she jeers. "Only out for the universal good. Held up as examples for the rest of us to emulate. Except you failed us all! You watched a Sith lord take over the Republic after he rose to power right beneath your nose! And my family died because of it!"
"Ms. Cardulla—"
Again, Rhea speaks over the Senator. But she's close to tears and she's determined to make her point before she loses her composure completely. Or loses her nerve to say it.
"When the Jedi Order fell, plenty of ordinary people quietly gloated on the sidelines. You know that, right? Because the measure you use is the measure you will receive. In the end, the Jedi were no different than us laypeople—you were fallible! For all your fancy Force and good intentions, you too could make mistakes. Big ones!"
In this, apparently, the Jedi woman will not argue. She quietly concedes, "The Jedi Order made mistakes. It needed reform. But this isn't about the Jedi. It's about Maul."
"Give him the chance to prove you wrong. You need him!" Rhea wails.
"We don't need his kind of help," she sniffs.
"Who's gonna kill Darth Vader, huh? You? Are you prepared to kill your old Jedi Master?" Rhea goes there, even though she knows she shouldn't.
The Togruta looks ready to pull her sword again. "He's not my Master! My Master is dead and this galaxy is the worse for it." She looks ready to cry now too. Except Jedi don't cry. They don't need emotion like the rest of us little people, Rhea knows.
"What if he is? Could you do it?" she goads. "Because I don't think you could do it."
"We don't have to listen to any more of this. Let's go call Mon." The Jedi again begins to bustle away the Senator. "We need to talk to Mon."
"Go ahead! Walk away! Run away!" Rhea calls at their backs. "He holds your entire army, by the way! And he knows who you are and where you are. Don't give him a reason to betray you to the Empire. Maul doesn't handle rejection well. You reject him at your own peril!"
"Rhea, that's enough." It's Maul's high tenor rasp. The one just above a whisper that still manages to carry to everyone's ears.
Instantly, she backs down. She begs Bail Organa's pardon now. Casting her eyes downward, contrite Rhea tells him, "Forgive me, Senator, if I spoke in anger. I had no intent to offend, but I am proud of the work we have done for the rebellion and I want it to continue." The words are said with a formal grace that would make her dead mother proud. She looks the maverick Senator in the eye and promises, "Maul is not a monster. Statements like that are extremely unfair," she glares at the Jedi.
The Senator nods slowly and looks even more troubled. Clearly, he doesn't know what to think.
Rhea can't bring herself to be equally gracious to the fuming Jedi. She shoots that Togruta a dirty look. The kind of look that in gangland would make a girl know to watch her back. Because Rhea might not be acknowledged as Maul's girl, but she's a ride-or-die chick all the same. And she will not listen to her boss be disrespected by anyone, least of all this Jedi woman with a grudge. Rhea might look meek, but she is Crimson Dawn and she's got people all over the galaxy that will have her back, whether or not they have a lightsaber. By and large, they are good people too. Even though this lady would likely dismiss them as trashy criminals.
So Rhea gets up in that Togruta harpy's face and hisses, "Do not underestimate us," as she flashes the gang sign on her wrist. In an effort to prove that she's not intimidated by this very intimidating woman, Rhea lapses into street vernacular. She emulates other tough talking women she has met in the gang. "Bitch, listen up! We know more than we say, we think more than we speak, and we notice more than you realize. So back off, you Force ho! Quit ruining things with your judgy big mouth! We've got a good team here. We need to keep it together and fight the Empire, not ourselves! And Maul doesn't have to prove loyalty to you. He knows all about loyalty. Crimson Dawn is built on loyalty," she boasts with a swagger that she hopes will do Marisol and Mrs. Nettles back at the compound proud.
"Come, Rhea." Maul beckons from where he has been standing, observing the confrontation.
"Yes, Sir." With one last seething glare at the Jedi, Rhea comes quickly to his side.
Maul pulls up his cowl and settles it low. He's extra menacing looking that way. Following his example, Rhea fluffs up the hood of her fancy Alderaan style day dress and settles it atop her head. Does the Jedi woman know how many credits this dress cost? She hopes so. Eat your heart out, she thinks to herself. She's got the good side of her face showing in profile to the rebels as she and Maul march to their ship in a dignified huff.
As Rhea climbs up the ladder to board, Maul snickers from below. "Did I hear right? Did you call her a Force ho?"
Did she do that? In the stress of the moment, she might have. Rhea cringes as Maul climbs up behind her. It's just the two of them inside the privacy of his ship. "I guess . . . uh . . . I might have . . . maybe . . . oh, gosh, I hope not . . . "
Maul's face twists in a wry smirk. "Mother Talzin would approve."
Rhea reddens beneath her green skin. "I got a little carried away, I guess . . . I'm s-sorry." She slumps dejected into the copilot seat and moans, "Everything is ruined now anyway. Your past caught up with us."
"It's too soon to conclude that. You were right to point out that I control their entire army. Little one, you are my best advocate. That was a most authentic testimonial." Maul marvels, "Who knew you had such ghetto bluster?"
Rhea responds by putting her face in her hands. She is mortified by what just happened. "Don't say any more . . ."
"And who knew I was such a paragon of virtue and repentance?" Maul shakes his head and chuckles even though there's nothing remotely funny about the situation. "Called her a Jedi ho . . . "
"Force ho," she groans.
"That's even better. Rhea, I think I love you."
"It won't happen again. Sir, I promise."
"You're supposed to respond 'I love you too.'"
"Yeah, okay. Whatever." She bursts into tears.
"Rhea, look at me."
She drops her hands, looks up, and sniffs, "Y-Yes?"
"I think I love you." Bloodshot yellow eyes lock with hers.
"I love you too," she answers back without thinking. But this isn't the time for declarations. She is very upset about what just happened. "Can you get Darth Plagueis to fix this?"
"He controls their credits."
"Will that be enough?" she frets.
"Let's hope. I guess we'll find out whether he still needs us or not if he sticks his neck out for me."
"That's not very reassuring," she grumbles.
"Ah, but little one," Maul counters softly, "rebellions are built on hope. Foolish, romantic, idealistic hope for a new fresh start that will wipe away the past . . ."
Is he talking about himself or the rebellion? Rhea isn't sure. "You don't seem anywhere near as upset as I am about this," she frowns.
Maul shrugs with an indifference that befuddles her. "This was bound to come out eventually. Better now than later, I suppose."
"And if we get kicked out of the rebellion for it?"
"We'll fight the Hutts instead of the Empire."
"You don't want that!" she lashes out. "I don't want that either! Don't pretend this isn't huge, Maul—for you, for me, for the galaxy!"
"It is huge," he sighs and looks away. He pulls a gloved hand down his averted face and for a moment looks truly rattled. "It's everything."
She nods and wipes at her eyes. "I know." She squints up at Maul and asks, "Who was that awful woman?"
"Ahsoka Tano. She was Darth Vader's Padawan Learner back when he was Jedi General Anakin Skywalker. In those days, Lady Tano was one of the Jedi's best."
"Did they really throw her out?"
"Yes."
Rhea looks down at her hands and admits, "I'm scared." Scared that Maul will lose his big chance to be more than a criminal, scared that the bickering rebels will continue to be ineffective, scared that she will be just a housemaid again, and scared that the tyrannical Emperor Palpatine will never be ousted. Rhea shakes her head and says it again, "I'm s-scared."
"Whatever happens, happens," Maul says with resignation. "I've been disappointed before." His face is slack and bleak. Rhea knows he's thinking of Mandalore.
"Get us out of here, will you?" she mutters as she feels a fresh flood of tears threaten.
"Good idea. Strap yourself in." Maul slips into the pilot's seat to take off. "Let's go home," he sighs.
Home to Dathomir, where so much has happened. But where still, all these years later, Maul seeks refuge. He's a Dark warrior of the Force, but he's no Sith, Rhea decides. At least, not anymore despite what that shrewish Jedi claims. Maul is a Nightbrother, the last of his kind and a survivor against all odds. And Rhea believes his checkered past might just make him the best hope for the rebels to succeed. Maul could be the hero they need, if only they will let him.