Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars Rebels that goes to Disney, Lucasfilm and Dave Filoni.
"Lost. I am lost. And yet, I can feel his presence. So close, so close," Maul said to himself as he travelled through the deserts of the planet of Tatooine. "I can see him in my mind's eye. Kenobi." He then screamed out in rage as he looked up, "Kenobi!" He breathed heavily and he bent down to the ground, "Will it end here, like this?" He asked himself, "No. No!" He then stood up, "I must draw Kenobi out, tempt his noble heart. But how? How?" He then remembered that he still had a fragment of the Sith holocron from Malachor and held it in his hand as he opened his hand, "I know. Ooh, I know."
"From what I gather from your sister you seem to enjoy stories of the clone wars?" Ursa asked her youngest daughter knowing full well that that was one of her hobbies she studied besides combat and flying.
"I do... a while back, on Agamar Rex, Kanan and I found an old Separatist droid squadron on a crashed ship and had to fight like clone troopers and Jedi to survive," replied Ezra from her seat as she shifted more comfortably.
"Ah, Commander Rex, I remember him quite we fought together side by side taking back the capital on Mandalore from the old Prime Minister Almec and its 'ruler Maul,'" Ursa said with disdain on the word maul as she began her tale of helping fight against the Saxon clan and their traitorous ways of follow and gain power for themselves and how Ahsoka had fought and captured 'Maul'.
"Wow I knew Ahsoka fought in the clone wars but I never knew she fought and defeated someone like Maul," Ezra said as she thought about her friend that had gave her own life for hers so that she could return to her sister.
"Well... it seems to be getting late why don't we continue this at a later date when we get your father free and maybe when we are together again we can have a meal together as a family," Ursa said happily as she noticed the smile on Ezra's face as she said family before ending their call.
Standing up and popping a few joints as she got up from the circular chair surrounding the holotable and headed to her and her sisters room to sleep only to hear a muffled familiar voice, "This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Stepping into the hallway ready to get to bed but had stopped suddenly when she heard it. That voice, the only time she had heard it was when she had opened her master's holocron almost a year or two ago.
"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Looking around expecting a prank from Zeb or Copper but found nothing lurking around, so she continued walking slowly looking out for anything out of the ordinary.
"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi... Obi... Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Stepping just passed her door she heard it again.
"I regret... I regret... I regret…"
Stopping again waiting to hear it again. "This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi...Obi...Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Rushing to her master's old bedroom and stopped once more using the Force to see if her master was not meditating, then she heard it again stronger. "Our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen... fallen…"
Stepping forward, sliding door moving at her presence, she stepped forward looking around before landing on the Jedi and Sith holocron pieces lighting up to show a hologram of Obi- Wan Kenobi warning all Jedi to stay hidden. "Our Jedi Order… Order and ... have fallen with the dark shadow... This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi... Obi-Wan Kenobi... this is to any surviving Jedi."
looking closer, watching it fade in and out. "A new hope will emerge. A new hope…"
Fading out completely as the Sith holocron glowed its eerie red light and flashed the room with a different familiar voice shouting it. "Kenobi... KENOBI!..." As Ezra fell to butt in surprise for a moment before the door to the room opened up to reveal Kanan.
"Maul's back," she told him.
"So what do you think it means, Kanan?" Hera asked Kanan as she told in the command center of Chopper Base with Ezra, Sato, Chopper and Rex.
"Ah, I couldn't really guess," Kanan answered, "Holocrons at times take a life of their own, but as to what it means…"
"It means Master a Kenobi could be alive and in danger right now," Ezra suggested.
"Ezra, no one would like to believe General Kenobi more than I would," Rex sighed, "But Senator Organa confirmed his death by my friend Commander Cody."
"Apparently not," she replied sarcastically, "'Cause we know Maul went looking for Master Kenobi. This could be a sign that he's closing in on him."
"Or it could be just a broken recording," Hera stated.
"That doesn't explain why I heard Maul's voice," the Mandalorian argued.
"But you've heard it before," Kanan reminded her as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "You've heard it before , and it was just a trick. Maul was manipulating you."
"I want to go to Tatooine to check things out," Ezra told them.
"Ezra, can I have a word with you?" Hera requested before they walked away, "We're training for the attack on Lothal and nobody knows that place better than you. I need you to help us prepare if we're going to be successful."
"But, Hera, if Master Kenobi is alive think of what he could do for the Rebellion," Ezra argued.
"If he was alive, do you think he would be hiding in some backwater world instead of helping us?" Hera scoffed as she sighed, "I wish things were different. I really do. But right now, I need you here. There's too much at stake for Lothal and for us."
"You know I want to help Lothal more than anyone as well as Mandalore," Ezra stated.
"I know," she told her before Ezra walked away as Kanan and Chopper approached Hera watching as Ezra left the area, going to her and her sister's room to sleep.
The next morning, Ezra was pushing a loading dolly with tons of munitions when a rebel trooper noticed her as he turned to her, "Hey, Lieutenant. Uh, what you got there?"
"Oh, some munitions for the A-wings," she answered, "Where do you want 'em?"
"Munitions, huh? Who sent 'em over?" The rebel trooper answered.
"AP-5," she answered.
"Ah, AP-5," the rebel trooper realized, "Yeah, that calculator's working overdrive these days. Can I see the manifest?"
"Hey, any of the fighters run fully-loaded?" She asked as she handed him the datapad containing the manifest.
"Well, the trainer's prepped," he began as he pointed his thumb at the RZ-1T behind him, "Been using it a lot lately with the newer recruits. Well, everything seems in order. No surprise there;" he went on as Ezra quickly ran behind the crates as Chopper watched her, "Why don't you take them over to…" he then noticed that the Mandalorian was missing and went to look for her as she began running to one of the A-wing trainers. "Hey! What are you doing?!" She ran up the ladder in front of the A-wing trainer and sat in the cockpit and began to power it up with the rebel trooper climbing up the ladder as it began to lift off the ground, "Lieutenant, you're not authorized. Stop! Lieutenant, come back! Land immediately!"
"Hera, I hope you can forgive me," Ezra muttered to herself as she placed her helmet next to her as she flew the A-wing trainer from Atollon and jumped into Hyperspace.
"All right, here I am. Tatooine. Middle of nowhere," Ezra said as the A-wing trainer jumped out of Hyperspace near Tatooine when Chopper grunted from behind, surprising her as she hit her head on the cockpit's window, "Ah! Ow! Chopper!" He grunted a response as she turned to him with the corner of her eye, "No, you know what. How did you get here?" He grunted a response, "I mean, in the ship." He grunted yet again, "I didn't want any of you to be involved, not this time." Chopper grunted yet again, causing her to scoff, "Yeah, I know you can take care of yourself, so can I as I'm a Mandalorian. You know what? You're in," she relented, "Not that you have a choice." He grunted again, "I don't know where we're going… yet." She pressed some controls as she took out a piece of Kanan's holocron as well as the Sith holocron as she sighed, "OK, Master Kenobi if you're down there, show me something." She then clenched her hand again as she turned to Chopper, "Chop, take us in. I'll let you know when to change course."
With that Chopper began flying the A-wing trainer towards Tatooine's two holocrons began to activate as she used the Force on them, "Chop, bring us around. Uh, north by northwest." Chopper grunted as he turned the ship around with the holocrons levitating in her hand before deactivating and fell in her hand. Surprising her, "Wait, what? Hey, Chop, take us down."
Soon the A-wing trainer landed in the canyon where Maul screamed Obi-Wan's name earlier.
"We're close now," Ezra said as she placed her helmet over her head while she turned to the astromech as the cockpit slid open, "Stay with the ship." Chopper grunted as she walked forward with the holocron fragments active and levitating in her hand with Chopper grunting in the cockpit. Ezra continued on as she began approaching a boulder and saw a dim red glow as she approached the boulder with the holocron she was holding turning red. "The Sith holocron." She then picked the remnant of the Sith holocron that Mail had.
"Now you see…" She heard Maul's voice say from the holocron piece that she picked up.
"Chop! This is a trap!" She yelled to the astromech when suddenly a Tusken Raider fired their sniper from above the canyon at her, only for the blaster bolt to fly past her neck as she wore her helmet around her head as one of the Tusken Raiders smashed the A-wing trainer's cockpit window with its gaderffii stick before shouting a battle cry as it stabbed the stick into another section of the A-wing trainer's cockpit, causing Chopper to scream. Ezra extended her arm outwards, Force pushing the Tusken off the ship, dropping the stick as Chopper flew upwards as he activated his rocket booster as the Tuskens began firing at him before landing behind the A-wing as Ezra ran behind it with him. "Chopper, find cover."
Just as she said that, a Tusken grabbed her and pushed her onto the ground before she kicked him away as Chopper rolled up towards them from below the ship spraying foam at him from one of his utility tools, pushing the Tusken away from the Mandalorian who got up from the ground as the Tuskens from the cliff began firing their rifles at them only for the blaster bolts to hit the ship.
"Move, move!" She cried out as the A-wing trainer exploded and rushed onto Chopper, avoiding the blast as the Tusken Raiders rose their sticks up and began chanting when suddenly a crimson colored lightsaber ignited from behind them and looked behind and saw Maul behind them with both blades from his cane double-bladed lightsaber ignited and slashed it against them, killing them instantly.
"Well, that explosion must have scared them off," Ezra stated as she got Chopper back on his feet, "Chopper grunted as Ezra turned around from the wreckage of the destroyed A-wing trainer, "What else can we do? We have to go forward." Chopper grunted as they began walking away from the wreckage of the destroyed A-wing trainer.
"Well, I suppose crossing the sands is a bad idea," Ezra remarked as she and Chopper left the canyon as it was now morning on Tatooine as she and Chopper stared at the desert before them as Chopper grunted with confirmation, "Yes, Chop, especially for droids and beskar. Chopper grunted again, "OK, we can head along the ridge."
"Ezra…" The Mandalorian suddenly heard Maul call her name and saw him in the distance.
"Chop, you see that?" She asked the astromech, wondering if what she was seeing was an illusion or not. He grunted a response, saying that he doesn't see anything she then stated back at where she saw the illusion of Maul and saw that the illusion had vanished, "It's gone. It was Maul. It had to be." She then took the Sith holocron as well as Kanan's holocron remnants from one of the bags on her armor and began levitating them, "He's close. Look! We have to go that way." She told him as she placed the holocron remnants back in one of her armor bags, causing Chopper to grunt a response, "I'm sorry, Chop, but I have to help Master Kenobi if I can." She began walking forward, "I'm sure if you follow the ridge you'll find a settlement." She continued to walk forward as she called out to him, "Maybe you could contact home base." Chopper made a sigh before rolling towards her, grunting.
Hours later, a sandstorm started blowing through the desert as Ezra held her arm at her eyes in front of her helmet's visor as she and Chopper travelled through the desert. She was still holding the remnants of the holocrons in her hand and looked at them as they glowed red.
"Don't worry, Chop! It can't be much farther. We'll find someone, or something," Ezra told Chopper before he grunted a response.
"Draw him out," she heard Maul tell her as she saw him in the distance again, within the sandstorm, "Your pain, your sorrow. It calls to him." Seconds later Maul vanished revealing that he was another illusion.
"Come on, let's keep moving," Ezra said as she continued forward with Chopper following her, "With this sandstorm, Sabine is gonna kill me about how I'm destroying her 'work of art' if this desert doesn't kill me first."
Hours later, Ezra panted in exhaustion as her armor was covered in sand, Chopper's body was covered in sand as well as he grunted, following her before powering down as his battery was drained of power.
"Chop?" She called out as she heard the astromech power down and rushed over to him, "Chopper!" She then began to power him back up as she placed her hands on his dome, "Hey, no! No, no, no, no, no! Hey, don't do this, buddy! Come on! Chopper! Hey, Chopper!" She then lowered her head as she sighs, "This is my fault. I should have stayed on Chopper Base. I don't know what to do." She began to embrace him in a hug.
"He is dead. He is dead," she heard Maul declare hours later as she sat next to Chopper with her helmet to her side.
"No," she denied.
"You led me to him." Maul went on.
"No," she said, denying yet again.
"You failed your friends, Mother, Sister and brother," the Zabrak said as he continued to torment her.
"No!" She yelled, still denying his claim.
"You and your family will die!" Maul stated as he ignited his saber.
"No!" She exclaimed as she ignited her green Mandalorian styled lightsaber in retaliation and charged at him only for her to drop her lightsaber as she phased through Maul and landed on the ground as she realized that he was yet another illusion of the former Sith as Maul laughed.
Hours later, a cloaked figure in Jedi robes approached the deactivated Chopper and walked towards Ezra and stared over the Mandalorian as he picked up her helmet as she looked at him with the corner of her eyes as she recognized him as an elder Obi-Wan Kenobi who was around 59 years old before falling unconscious.
As Ezra regained conscious she saw that it was night as she saw that she was at a campfire before looking around and saw Chopper being recharged from a power lamp next to a dewback, a reptilian non-sentient species, native to Tatooine. Chopper grunted as she sat up and she turned to see Obi-Wan on the other side of the campfire.
"Quite rare to find a Jedi now-a-days but even rarer to find a Mandalorian who's far from home, Ezra Wren " Obi-Wan said looking up to her.
"Master? Master Kenobi?" She inquired as she approached him.
"I am. And when you have your strength, I will help you on your way," Obi-Wan told her as he stood up and lowered his robe's hood.
"On my way?" She repeated with confusion, "No, I came here to find you. To warn you."
"About Maul?" He asked as he already knew what Maul was up to.
"Yes!" She confirmed, "Uh, you know?"
"One doesn't survive as long as I have by being foolish or unprepared," the Jedi Master explained, "Maul is an old adversary and a persistent one at that."
"We can fight him together," Ezra suggested as her Mandalorian heritage showed.
"I had no intention of fighting him though that seems inevitable now," he went on.
"You don't understand," she stated, "You're the answer. The holocrons told me. They said you would be the one to help us destroy the Sith."
"Hmm. It's the first I've heard of it," he stated, turning around as he trained the so-called 'Chosen One' and has been watching over his son, Luke Skywalker for 18 years who he believes will destroy the Sith and his father Anakin Skywalker.
"The Rebellion needs you. We need you to defeat the Empire and help us free Mandalore as well," she pleaded.
"What you need, you already have," he informed her as he handed her helmet to her, "Unfortunately, you seem to be letting it all go."
"But if I had what I needed, why would the holocrons send me to you?" She asked with confusion.
"They didn't. Maul did," he told her as they sat down on a log behind them around the campfire, "Maul used your desire to do good to deceive you and in doing so he has altered the course of many things. He knows your fears, your heart and he manipulated the truth which has led you here, where you should never have been."
"But the holocrons they tell the truth," she stated.
"Do they? The truth is often what we make of it," Obi-Wan began, "You heard what you wanted to hear, believed what you wanted to believe. And now, the only one who has gained anything from all this is…"
"Me," Maul said, interrupting the Jedi Master as he stood across from them and the campfire.
"You must go now," Obi-Wan told her, placing a hand on her shoulder as he stood up.
"I led him to you. Let me make it right," she pleaded as she stood up.
"That is not your responsibility. I will mend this old wound," he told her, causing Maul to narrow his eyes with anger as Ezra walked up to the dewback, "Ride north. That is your way out. Your way home." Ezra placed her helmet back over her head as she climbed up the dewback on its back as Chopper activated his rocket booster and flew into the dewback's saddle.
"See you soon, apprentice," Maul told Ezra as left and Chopper left the camp on the dewback before he sighing as he turned to his arch-rival, "Look what has become of you. A rat in the desert."
"Look what I have risen above," Obi-Wan retorted.
"I've come to kill you, but perhaps it's worse to leave you here, festering in your squalor," Maul told him.
"If you define yourself by your power to take life, a desire to dominate, to possess, then you have nothing," Obi-Wan stated.
"And what do you have?!" Maul asked with anger as he removed his cane from his double-bladed lightsaber, igniting one of it's blades as he swung it at the ground with the sand flying into the fire, extinguishing the campfire.
"Why come to this place? Not simply to hide. Oh, you have a purpose here. Perhaps you are protecting something. No. Protecting SOMEONE," Maul stated, getting a reaction from his long time foe before sparking his lightsaber to life.
Obi-Wan's face only grew hardened as he knew he had to make sure that Maul would never leave, revealing one of the galaxy's last hope.
In response Obi-wan pulled out his own lightsaber and shifted into his own fighting stance the Soresu, one he had honed for years.
Grinning madly knowing that Obi-wan's years of living here had more than likely reduced his fighting prowess Maul moved into his own signature style that made all fall before him twirled his blade beside himself readying himself.
That moment of knowing Maul's arrogance through the years Obi-wan shifted into the Ataru stance, the very one his master, Qui-Gon Jinn used and waited.
With a great amount of grace and momentum Maul ran forward smashing into Kenobi slashing at his right before being deflected, then moved towards his left knee but again Maul was blocked. Trying his luck Maul to hit Kenobi in the face only to be cut down now realizing he had made an error thinking his old archenemy had outsmarted him before collapsing into Kenobi's arms.
"Tell me. Is it the Chosen One?" Maul asked him.
"He is," Obi-Wan confirmed.
"He will avenge us," Maul stated before dying in Obi-Wan's arms like his master Qui-Gon Jinn and lover Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore before him as Obi-Wan closed Maul's eyes out of respect and pity for Maul before sitting beside him underneath two of Tatooine's three moons.
Ezra flying Maul's Mandalorian gauntlet fighter formerly named 'the Night Brother' and now renamed 'Manfo'ade kad'au,' in Mando'a but called 'Mandalorian's lightsaber,' in basic. She was flying it back towards Atollon and landed it at Chopper Base as Zeb, Hera and Kanan watched it landed at the base with Ezra and Chopper walking down the ramp with her helmet to her side as the ship's ramp descended down onto the landing pad as Zeb, Hera and Kanan began to approach her and Chopper.
"Tell me this means what I want it to mean," Zeb remarked as he saw Maul's Mandalorian Gauntlet.
"We won't be seeing Maul again," she reassured them as she felt his death through the Force, "And I've renamed the ship to manfo'ade kad'au which means Mandalorian's lightsaber in basic."
"Well?" Hera began as she approached the Mandalorian.
"I'm sorry I ran off like that," she apologized to them, "I was wrong. This is where I'm supposed to be till Sabine and our mother find a way to free our father from Imperial custody in Sundari. But you're my friends and in a sense extended family and we should go back to the Ghost." They all placed a hand on her as she said that.
Back on Tatooine, Obi-Wan was riding his dewback after cremating as well as burying Maul's corpse before stopping as he looked in the distance at a moisture farm, "Luke! Luke!" He heard Beru Whitesun Lars call out an 18 year old Caucasian boy who was running to the homestead as he watched the binary sunset above.
Please favorite and review. Would you like me to continue adding the Imperial scenes or not?
