The zabrak paced in front of him, seething in anxiety and fear and anger, a nauseating swirl of emotion.
"Hello there," Starkiller said evenly. the zabrak bared his teeth as his horns flushed violet.
"I can't allow you to attack them."
"You would protect a jedi?" the zabrak demanded. Starkiller tilted his head, sending a pulse of amusement through the force at the other sith. The zabrak growled.
"Yes," Starkiller said simply, "The nature of the sith is betrayal; I want my master and his master dead. By any means." The zabrak startled, then relaxed, wary but not hostile.
"My master named me Maul." He offered, "He said we would rule the galaxy."
"Then you understand my meaning. You understand why Darth Sideous must die."
"No! He gave me life, gave me a purpose-"
"Did he?" Starkiller asked mildly. Maul froze.
"Think on what I've said here, boy," Starkiller drawled, "If you attack me or mine again, I will strike you down."
Starkiller turned to leave, he knew he shouldn't have let Maul go but-
It isn't my fault, Shaak Ti abandoned me here!
He couldn't bring himself to kill the zabrak. Damn his soft heart.
"Done with your mystery errand, my lord?" Qui-Gon asked bitterly. Galen was getting fed up with the jedi master's attitude, but starting a fight would be counterproductive.
"Obviously." Starkiller said, walking past Qui-Gon into the galley of the ship. Obi-Wan reached for his lightsaber upon seeing Starkiller, instinctively putting Anakin behind him. Anakin, on the other hand, lit up at the sith's presence, slipping out of Kenobi's grasp to tackle Starkiller in a hug. Starkiller froze. The boy was hugging him?
Galen wasn't stupid, he'd been hugged before (only twice, some traitorous part of his mind whispered) but never while playing a sith, and never by a child.
"Mom said you were the one who freed us; thank you." Starkiller awkwardly patted Anakin's head. The boy squeezed him tighter and Starkiller briefly entertained the idea of using a force repulse to dislodge him.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan called, "Why don't you go make sure Jar Jar hasn't gotten into anything he shouldn't have." Anakin's eyes widened and he quickly scurried off.
"...thank you..." Starkiller murmured awkwardly to the padawan. Obi-Wan opened his mouth to reply, then reconsidered and closed it again. He did this several times before-
"Why are you helping us?" It wasn't particularly harsh, just curious and wary. That threw Starkiller for a loop.
"Uh...because I feel like it..?" Starkiller tried. Kenobi was unimpressed. Of course he was; Starkiller was trying to lie to The Negotiator himself, and the fact that his mind was continually pulling up the old holos he'd watched, wasn't helping. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, that's not the reason- not the whole reason anyway... but, uh, I- um... I can't tell anyone the actual reason." Starkiller stuttered out, mentally cursing himself for being such an idiot. Fearsome Dark Lord of the Sith, indeed; tripping over his words like a child caught out of bed in the night.
"And why, pray tell, is that?" Qui-Gon asked, coming up behind Starkiller. Starkiller turned, keeping both jedi in his sights and his back to the wall.
"It is the will of the force." Starkiller said, soft, low, controlled.
"The force, or the dark side." Obi-Wan queried.
"You should know, by now, that I am not what one would consider a... typical sith," Starkiller began, his words guided by the force, like a whisper in his ear.
"Obviously." Obi-Wan snorted.
"I follow a path in between. Light without Darkness is blinding; Darkness without Light is an abyss, but to walk through both... the sky is bathed in Twilight," Galen's words surprised even him, and, thankful for the helmet concealing his reactions, he continued.
"What do you know of Darth Revan?"