The Peacekeepers

The sound of shooting sparks from the ship still could be heard clearly as Ahsoka gradually came back to consciousness. Her eyesight was clouded and her head was spinning. Her limbs and face felt sore. She was laying atop of a cold hard surface, but not the same material as the ship. This was concrete. The muffled sounds in her ears became clearer. The surrounding environment was gray with a few dim light sources handing above, from what she could see. It was empty save for herself and the other two life sources. A few tables and chairs had been turned on their sides.

Ahsoka pressed her aching palms against the concrete and hoisted her upper body up. Her teeth clenched at the pain she felt in her forehead. She slowly turned her head behind her and saw the damaged Nu-class shuttle, wedged halfway into the building. The entire glass window had been shattered. Bits and pieces of the ship were scattered about and there were a couple of small fires around her. The other two were nowhere to be seen.

There was a large, gaping hole beneath where the shuttle landed, possibly where a grenade had detonated. As she moved, the foundation carrying her began to shake slightly. She blinked rapidly and once her vision finally cleared, she noticed an enormous crack between where her body was located and the rest of the floor.

She attempted to bring herself up on her knees. Each little movement caused the ground to shift.

"Okay..." she whispered to herself as she managed to position herself on her knees. The concrete floor shook more violently while she crawled to the part of the ground that was stable. She could see the inside of the crack as the two pieces of the ground began to separate. This part she was situated on and the opposite side of the crack were only being held together by damaged wiring and skinny pipes. As soon as she moved close to it, the damaged part of the floor had broken apart and using what little strength she had in the moment, she managed to leap from the falling part of the floor and grab onto the other side.

While she was holding onto the ground, she looked down below and saw that the other many floor underneath her had been eradicated. The shuttle was dragged downwards and when it landed, caused another brilliant explosion. The whole building shook from the occurrence.

She could feel her fingers slipping. Before she could lose her grip, two pairs of hands grabbed onto her arms and pulled her upward.

"Are you alright, Commander?" Rex asked when they both released her on the safer ground.

She struggled to balance herself and her head felt dizzy. "A little shook up, but... I'll be fine."

Rex presented her with her lightsabers. "You dropped these." She took them with gratitude.

The location seemed to be in some sort of entertainment center, or a cantina, located on one of the highest floors of the building. It was void of all people. A few of the windows were broken and parts of the walls and floor were cracked.

"Guess we're pretty lucky this building broke our fall." Rex said as he rolled his shoulder in a circulating motion. The next step they took made the skyscraper shake a little bit more.

"Let's get out of here before the place collapses on itself." Ahsoka said.

They were fortunate to have gotten out when they did because as soon as they existed, the place had fallen, showing only its skeleton. Ahsoka was more than glad that any kind of life force present in that building got out while they could.

The Dark Side had never been stronger. While they wandered into the now-dangerous streets of the higher-class residences of Coruscant, Maul had felt overwhelmed by the sudden increase of power he now felt through his body. For the first time since his childhood where he was being trained by Sidious, he could feel his nerves rising. His master had always ensured to keep a minor level of fear within the former Sith Lord, where the dread of extreme punishment kept Maul from endangering Sidious's plans. But not so much that Maul was prevented from carrying out his own disobedient acts.

This kind of fear was unfamiliar to him. He may have been afraid to face Sidious on his own, but the thought of dying in this battle wasn't the cause of it. Perhaps this whole time, he'd actually been afraid of needing the help of the Jedi, or anyone who would want to keep the Jedi in power. He was a master of the Dark Side of the Force in his mind. But this Padawan was beginning to make him feel as though he was slipping from its grasp.

"Rex, watch out!" Ahsoka yelled to her clone companion. He wasn't aware of the rogue soldier pointing a blaster right at his head who barely missed.

All three of them braced themselves as a wave of clones and an AT-TE headed their way.

With the height of the darkness in the Force and the opportunity to take these worthless lives away, the krayt dragon had awoken within the renegade. One that has been kept dormant for the Padawan's sake. He witnessed Ahsoka trying to deflect the blaster fire in multiple directions from the rest of the army, but only for a short amount of time. Eventually, she realized that there wasn't any way they could proceed if their strategies continued in this way. Captain Rex had hopelessly attempted to stun the remainder of his brothers before he came to a similar realization.

It was time to show Ahsoka Tano and this factory-built trooper the burden of keeping the peace.

The crimson blades were ignited and spun rapidly in a mesmerizing shield while Maul advanced towards the inferior fighters. With one hand he held the spinning blades in place and with the other, he yanked the blasters out of their hands. The saber was thrown towards them, cutting straight through the crowd and leaving loose clone helmets scattered around the street. By doing things his way, he managed to push the rest of the clone army back towards where they came from.

The clones were nothing like fighting against a worthy opponent. His anger had always been centered on the Jedi. Maul made use of the loose pieces of fallen buildings to compress their bodies together and held their corpses in mid-air to protect himself against the bullets.

"Rex!" Ahsoka called to the clone. "This way!" she signaled towards where Maul was heading, away from where the other half of the army stood. Maul knew the way to the Senate building, where his master thought he was safe. Even over a decade of being absent, he could still practically walk it blindfolded. All the feelings this city gave him returned with a vengeance. This is where his identity was kept from the public. This is where Sidious made him watch from such high grounds over the people he'd been waiting a lifetime to confront, but was kept from doing so. Sidious held him by a leash, only allowing him to walk free in places where he would still remain a nobody. But not this time.

"Far above, far below..." he muttered as he launched himself backwards, piercing through a clone's chest with his saber.

Ahsoka dodged through the fire and jumped atop of the AT-TE. Maul watched while several of the clones were tossed out of the walker, straying the vehicle off its path.

He could sense the anger within her that she was trying to mask, wondering how different her life would have ended up if she'd been found by a Sith Lord. She would probably have been in the same predicament Maul currently was in.

Maul gritted his teeth and spun his saber once again. He tossed it straight up in the air and the few remaining clones turned their heads upward in fascination. He allowed the anger to burn through him and tightened his fists. Using his rage, he increased his speed and rammed his horned head straight into the clone's chest. The impact shattered the clone's breastplate as if it were glass. Not necessarily for the purpose of decreasing numbers. But to the fury that he'd kept bottled up this whole time take over him.

When his saber returned to him, it had only taken one swipe before the rest of this army was done. And afterwards, Maul was starting to feel like his old self again. He had been deprived of double-bladed fighting for so long and yet returning to it felt like he'd never stopped. The weapon was as drawn to him as he was to it. A natural connection, like himself with the Dark Side of the Force.

He looked over at Ahsoka, who was resting her hands on her knees and taking deep breaths. Rex sat down on his knees, regaining himself. These battles have been wearing them down. Maul, who has been fighting every second of his life, shook his head at them.

He returned his saber to its hold on his belt and gestured forward. "There's no time to waste."

He was expecting Ahsoka to comment about his ruthlessness, but she didn't. Why would she when, during the war, her own sacred faction had ironically used such methods to keep the peace? Ahsoka seemed to realize that violence was necessary and Maul respected that of her.

The Shadow Collective may have lost its foundation on Zanbar, but Maul refused to give up hope that his criminal organization could restore itself. The Hutts were a large organization with an enormous empire of their own, as major as the Galactic Empire will be. They weren't willing to sacrifice even a small portion of their stronghold to aid in this battle. Their confidence in Maul had waned as he hadn't shown himself to be as resilient as he projected himself to be. Losing the former Sith Lord wouldn't have made any difference to them.

The Pykes, however, had yet to have as big of a network as the Hutts and their lust for power and greed was strong enough for them to send reinforcements. Black Sun was a bit less willing after the situation on Ord Mantell, but after a bit of convincing, reluctantly agreed. Maul hadn't been the best at persuading others without the use of brute force, but he made a vague promise that good things would come their way if they were successful.

"We shall see about that." the holographic figure of Ziton Moj responded while the Nu-class shuttle was still making its way to Coruscant, prompting Rex to criticize him. Maul knew he was on thin ice. If the fight against Sidious ended with the return of the Republic to its former state, then the Jedi would have focused their attention back on law enforcement. That would put the two syndicates more at risk and even Maul knew he couldn't obtain such high amounts of power if a majority of the Jedi survived the Jedi Purge. If Sidious won this fight, then Maul would not only have lost his position as leader of the Shadow Collective, but most likely his own life.

The Death Watch would remain loyal regardless of the situation that would eventually befall upon him. He was relieved to see that at least they were on his side. As if on cue, he heard the rumbling sound of arriving ships and turned his head upwards to witness the red- and black- colored Kom'rk fighters above.

"Good." he muttered, grinning to himself. Ahsoka turned her head upwards and watched the ships pass by with uncertainty. She looked concerned, a pertinent feeling to have. And when she noticed he was watching her expression, she looked away without a second word. Maul turned to Rex, who also kept his attention on the ships, as well as his blaster in his hands.

"My lord..." Maul heard the noise coming from his com, which miraculously survived the crash. The voice of Kast was accompanied with static.

"Speak." Maul said into his device while he walked forward.

Kast's words cut in and out. "We're in position to... ready at your command..."

"Your objective at the moment is to keep our clone friends occupied." Maul said, knowing that sending the troops against Sidious was an unequal fight for them. "Their presence is becoming a nuisance for us."

Death Watch may have not been able to handle Sidious, but at the very least, they could make trespassing through the city easier.

Had Satine Kryze provided her dominion with an army, her reign might not have ended the way it had when Maul and his crime syndicate arrived. Maul was amazed she'd maintained order for as long as she had under her pacifist rule. Mandalore, though not as opulent at the Republic's capital, was a prosperous city. And its neutrality made it an easy target without drawing attention from the Republic. Anyone could have taken it over. Which gave Maul hope that planets with the same order as the previous Mandalore would be available for him if he couldn't obtain Sidious's position.

He decided he had been much too overconfident many times in his life and couldn't be that way now. Sidious always reminded him of this and now Maul was inclined to agree. There were no second chances.

Through Maul's life, he'd learned that war and heated conflicts were inevitable and protection was needed for an administration and its people. It made sense why the Jedi Council had adopted such peace-keeping solutions that turned its own members against each other. Not just because their Supreme Chancellor had decided an army was necessary. And part of him wondered why Ahsoka would have been as against the use of violence from the Order as she was.

Like the Sith, the Jedi were trained to fight. It wouldn't have been apart of the Jedi teachings if it wasn't an important aspect of keeping the peace. "Resort to violence only if no other option presents itself" was the phrase that existed within the Temple. That's why they were easy to strike down, Maul told himself.

Suddenly, Ahsoka stopped in her tracks, her face frozen and her eyes facing forward.

"Commander?" Rex asked. "What is it?"

Her head tilted upward like she was hearing voices that the other two couldn't. Maul recognized that stance as he had immersed himself within it many times before. She was listening to the Force.

"I know where Anakin is." she said, taking the lead.

Her resolve was admirable, Maul had to admit. If he had been keeping true to his Sith nature, it wouldn't have mattered if she wasn't technically considered a Jedi. She stood by the Order and that much made her no less of a Jedi than before. He would have ended her life like he would any other member of the Order.

Years ago, he'd diverged from Sidious's orders to grant himself the satisfaction of taking a Jedi's life. A Padawan being sold at an auction was what caught his eye. Kaitis was her name. With the help of the galaxy's most iconic bounty hunters, he obtained the Padawan and managed to complete this personal mission of his. But something she told him before doing so had piqued his interest, even if just for a brief second. She said that his efforts and skills were put to waste because she wasn't the Knight he was truly interested in. She said to him that he wouldn't have been satisfied as much as he would have been facing a real Jedi.

"Make no mistake, Eldra Kaitis," he remembered telling her after mortally stabbing her with his saber. "You are a Jedi."

That same determination he had then wasn't with him while he followed Ahsoka and the clone further towards this imminent fight against his master. It occurred to him after he'd repressed the rage that'd spontaneously been triggered that he might not have wanted to consider himself a Sith any longer. He, too, felt as though his own Order had betrayed him. And though he still held a grudge against the Jedi for upholding their hypocritical ways, and at Kenobi for robbing him of all he could have had in life, his anger towards Sidious was much greater.

Far above, far below.

Maul stopped walking a moment as he took the time to wade through the Force. He sensed that his old master was keeping a close watch on them. It was like looking through a pair of binoculars where he could see Sidious's location. And Sidious did not look too pleased knowing that all obstacles he'd thrown in his former apprentice's way did little to stop him and his team. Maul could feel the frustration in the old man. The Zabrak barred his teeth and his blood began to boil. When the connection was cut off, he heard Ahsoka trying to get his attention.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked, her hands resting on her hips. Maul shook his head and continued forward. He wasn't sure anymore if ruling the galaxy was his end goal, or keeping the power from his old master after Sidious had taken away all chances of Maul having a taste of it. After Sidious no longer had a place for the former Sith Lord when Maul had been as loyal as he possibly could. Sidious used him. And now he was going to pay for it.

What once was great is rendered small.