the cold raindrops fell on Maul like Icy bullets he never felt it. The wind howled like a banshee loudly in his ear drums. He did not care. his mind was focused. Any pain he felt he simply used to focus his own connection to the dark side. Blade, body mind, all things were one glued together by his hatred and the dark side that burned within him like a volcano ready to bubble over.

Growling like a apex cat ready to pounce maul leapt and struck various raindrops with such precision he was able to practically cut them in half. Still in the back of his mind, this whole exercise felt pointless. He should have been hunting Jedi. Or better yet those Roaches of the remains of the brotherhood of Darkness that were "hiding" in the Chommell sector.

Such fools, did they really think they could somehow escape form Sidious's vision? The time of the Old sith empire was long passed. It was the will of the force that the rule of two prevail. Palpatine's vision was already set in motion. A grand plan was in the works that would destroy the republic from the inside, and Maul was going to be a part of it. Soon the Chommell would be left with a choice. Renounce their heresy and bow to the true dark lord of the sith or die.

"excellent swordsmanship my apprentice."

Maul turned around to see a steel gray mechanical walker lumbering towards him on the top of a spherical ball was a light blue holographic projection of lord Sidious. His face was guarded by a cowl with the only hint expression being in his crooked jagged teeth. Almost on instinct, the Dathomirian fell to one knee and bowed.

"What is thy bidding my master?"

"I take it your mission was a success my apprentice."

"Yes my master. The Jedi on Nar shadda has been eliminated."

"Good. You are one step closer to completing your training..."

Maul said nothing.

"...yet," Sidious continued. "...I sense great dissatisfaction within you. Tell me, what bothers you so?"

At first maul was hesitant to say anything, but soon relented.

"I am ready for a greater challenge master. The Jedi have grown weak and insignificant. I want to face someone who is truly capable of testing my skill."

Sidious gave a cracked vicious smile, the corners of his mouth almost looking like broken earth. "Ask and you shall receive my apprentice. I believe I have a mission that is more to your...satisfaction."

"tell me master."

"The blockade that I will have Nute Gunray initiate on Naboo will only be a small part of my overall grand design. If we can get Queen Amidala to join our cause and see the power of the truth sith, then few if any will be able to stand in our way, but in order to dissuade her from remaining loyal to the old ways, certain attachments must be...eliminated."

"Who do you want me to kill master?"

The image of the Sidious quickly changed to that of a very large woman with a gaudy sense of dress. Looking at her face, He could see some semblance of attraction...had it not looked like she had eaten a hutt.

"The woman you see before you is one of the members of the High Sith Council to the greater galaxy at large she is known as Duchess Kelma of Karlinus. Her palace is at the center of her planet and is heavily guarded by droids and undercover acolytes."

"Master, this is but another mere assassination. Once I get past her guards it will just be a matter of finishing her off."

"Do not Underestimate her abilities Lord Maul. Her abilities with the force Rival my own and in physical combat she uses her size to her advantage. In fact I do not expect you to survive, however if you survive, you will be one step closer to bringing our grand plan into fruition."

"I understand master, but I must ask. What does this have to do with the Trade Federation and the blockade?"

"The Republic will assume that the trade federation is responsible for her death. Tensions will rise in the republic and justify their blockade. Once the blockade occurs, everything will fall into place exactly as I have foreseen."

"I don't understand master. If the old Sith are truly that much of a threat, why can we not just go to Naboo and destroy them all."

"My apprentice. You have great zeal but you lack wisdom. These are not mere Jedi knights we are talking about The Sith Council are some of the greatest warriors in the galaxy. One we could handle true, but taking them down all at once would be too great a task even for the both of us. Besides, even if we did succeed we would risk revealing ourselves to the Jedi too early. The time to reveal ourselves to the Jedi will come lord maul, but that time has not yet arrived. In the meantime you have your mission. Now, go."

Maul readied his cruiser and the droids setting a course for Karlinus. Part of him still could not help but question if part of this were a joke or even a wild goose chase, a cruel joke that was meant to be nothing more than some twisted humorous form of punishment. How could someone that looked like Duchess Kelma even be considered a sith let alone match the power of his master when she herself looked like she was too fat to even walk? Despite Sidious's reassurance in Cog Hive Seven, Maul couldn't help but think that he was being held back. There was something that his master knew that he wasn't willing to share yet, or worse was not willing to let Maul be a part of. Still Maul could not afford to have those doubts now. Someday his time would come, but for now he had a mission to complete.

"We will have our revenge."

Maul landed the Scimitar on the outskirt farmlands of Karlinus. "Kelma's palace is in range." O-66 said in a matter of fact manner."

"Are there any lifeforms? " Maul asked.

"No active sentients. Karlinus runs on a twenty-four hour cycle. And we are landing in the middle of the night. Nearly all of the citizens of Karlinus will be hibernating."

"perfect, the element of surprise."

"Will you be in the need for medical supplies or perhaps backup droids?"

"No, that will not be necessary. Make sure the ship is ready when I return. "

Maul dodged the ruble sent toward him by one of the acolytes guarding the palace. He wasted no time in leaping on top of the acolyte stabbing him in the chest with his saber staff. Hearing a click, maul turned and saw several palace guards aiming rifles at him.

"Don't move hands up." One of them shouted.

Maul turned around silently before slashing away at the guards with lightning speed. the sith Assassin found himself to be extra vigilant. She was close...too close. He slowly walked down the hallway only to find himself in what appeared to be some kind of grand dining. Room. She was here. He could feel it, but he couldn't understand why. Suddenly the lights flashed on. Maul covered his eyes for a brief second as the sudden brightness caused him to stagger back a step or two.

"I was wondering when you would arrive." A husky feminine voice spoke out. "Maul looked over to see a large woman sitting on a walking throne.

"I take it you must be Darth Maul." Maul couldn't help but nod. the woman couldn't help chuckle as maul seemed to pace back and forth in an tense almost animalistic manner. "Come now, I understand the horns are supposed to be a dead giveaway of how intense you are but no need to wear it on your sleeve. Come, sit down."

Maul cocked his head ever so slightly. Every part of him told him that he should have been reaching for his lightsaber, yet somehow in spite of those instinct he still found himself almost involuntarily reaching for a chair and sitting down. No sooner had he done so droids started to fly into the room offering food and drink.

"My name is Darth Adephagia, but I have no doubt that your master has already told you that. It's a pity I was hoping that we had done a better job of hiding than what we had. I guess in hindsight it was wishful thinking if your master's influence is half as great as we were led to believe. No don't say anything. This isn't an integration. I sense that you don't even know who your master is behind the cloak. On the bright side, if you know that we exist, then there is little reason to hide in the shadows.

Maul couldn't help but find himself being off-guard in all of this. Despite Sidious's claims of this woman being a sith, he could not help but think that his master had been mistaken. He sensed no hate in this woman, no anger. Here he was having just cut down many of her own personal guard and yet she were acting as if he were an old friend coming to visit. Was it possible that this woman was senile?

"You knew I was coming." maul growled.

"Mmm-hmm."

"You know what will happen next."

"I do."

"Then why not just lay die and make it easier for the both of us?"

Adephagia's fleshy lips twisted into a grin. "Oh come now what would be the fun in that? Taking the easy way is not very sith-like no is it?"

"Neither is seemingly being so at peace with your own demise. Peace is a lie."

"Zaja, peace is a lie. No matter how good your politics are or how good of a peacekeeper you try to be the fires of conflict will always burn in some form or another. That doesn't mean we can't learn how to dance with the fire."

"To make any sort of peace even with yourself, goes against the very philosophy of the sith."

"We used to think that too...and then we realized we got tired of losing. Let me ask you a question, what is the definition of insanity? It's doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting a different result to happen. We were always good at picking apart the flaws of the Jedi order, but exactly the best at pointing out our own flaws, particularly infighting."

"Bane knew such flaws. That's why he created the Rule of Two."

"Oh please dear child. The Rule of two is just a ticking time bomb waiting to doom the sith into extinction."

"What do you mean?"

"The Rule of two banks on one of two impossible gambles. The First Gamble is that Either A: the master will teach the apprentice everything he knows, or B: the master will never die. Both of which these will never be the case. The rule of two views the force as a cup of venom right, that's the parable that's always used?"

"It is."

"The here, let me show you in a way you can understand."

Adephagia summoned two large gold goblets from her hand. Both were half full with karlini tea.

"Now pretend for a time that these two goblets represent the rule of two, one master one apprentice, one to crave power the other to wield it."

The Sith Lady proceeded to pour the content of one cup into the other. "The Master may teach enough to avoid suspicion but he will always keep things to himself. Perhaps to keep the apprentice craving power, or perhaps to hold leverage over them."

She stopped filling the apprentice cup about three quarters of the way through. "Now say the apprentice kills his or her master perhaps they got a lucky shot in, or perhaps they killed their master using more...underhanded methods."

She proceeded to let the Master cup spill on the floor. Maul watched as the tea spilled onto the ground.

"and then the apprentice now believing himself to be the master takes an apprentice of his own. The cycle repeats itself until..."

"So much is lost that there is nothing left."

"It will happen sooner than later, and that is even assuming that the master teaches most of what he knows. It could just as well occur that the master will teach his apprentice nothing and the apprentice will kill his master by backstabbing him."

Maul watched as Adephagia filled the master cup full of tea and proceeded to smash the apprentice cup into it, keeping a stoic reaction as it spilled to the ground.

"Now, "Adephagia continued. "That tea was 100% pure. Not a single bit of water or tonic was in it to dilute it."

"But it does not matter." Maul continued. "It could have been the purest tea in the galaxy but does for no one when it's lost."

Adephagia smiled. "You are sharp. Much sharper than I imagine your master gives you credit for."

Maul could not help but grin slightly. "and you are less of a fool than I initially believe. You've given me much to think about Sith. However, I am afraid I still have a mission I must fulfill."

"I understand. Shall we begin?"

"You are ready then?" Maul asked.

"Whether I am or not you have been more than fair."

Maul proceeded to get up from his chair as Adephagia 's walker seemingly backed away from the table. As maul activated his saber staff he was surprised to see that Adephagia did not draw one of her own

"No weapon?"

Adephagia smirked. "Who said I needed a lightsaber to fight you?

Without saying another word, Maul charged toward Adephagia only to find himself being flying backwards slamming into the marble wall, smashing into it. His vision blurred a bit as he shrug off the pain going for a second attempt. Again he found himself being rag dolled with little to no effort.

"Are you going to fight me or are you going to toy with me?"

"Again, little Maul I never said I was going to make this easy for you."

Maul looked in shock as fire flew from Adephagia's finger tips. The Sith Lady moved her hands in a showmanship manner twisting the flames into various conjurations. All of which charged at maul like wild beast. Maul felt the flames lick his skin as he dodged them slashing them away with his saber staff. Leaping toward their conjurer he made a slashing motion downward Adephagia or more her walking thrown was quick to react dodging every one of his attacks with relative ease.. The walking throne proceeded to stand on its back to legs using the front two to grab his wrist and left him up into the air. Maul let out a howl of Agony as he felt his flesh be engulfed by both fire and lighting. Maul was baffled only in his master had he ever felt such power, and as he felt the elements consume his body, he knew that if he did not think fast, he would surly parish. Thinking on his feet he through his saber at the Throne's standing legs causing the throne to topple over, and Adephagia with it. Adephagia used the force to levitate off the ground and get back onto her feet. Her opponent was giving a triumphant grin.

"I have taken away your method of mobility. Now die."

"Oh please child. That throne was just for show." The Sith lady proceeded to activate her lightsaber. It's orange glow illuminated the room like a dancing flame. What happened next was something Maul could not prepare himself for. Maul felt a himself stagger backwards as a large meaty fist hit him square in the jaw. Her saber moved in such in such a fashion it seemed less like a lightsaber and more like a flaming sword. He hissed as he felt the heat of her lightsaber press against his cheek. Blocking it with his own blade, Changing tactics he charged head first into Adephagia attempting to gore but her vast bulk seemed to absorb the blow with ease. It wasn't long before Maul found himself on his backside, narrowly dodging Adephagia 's downward strike. Frantically summoning his lightsaber he pressed the button of the hilt and close his eyes. Suddenly Adephagia's breaths seemingly became more labored and maul opened his eyes back up to see the staff burned deep into her heart. What unnerved him more than anything was that in spite of suffering a fatal blow, she had a wide grin on her face.

I-I guess I left myself wide open didn't I? She said softly. As her blade dropped to the ground, her body fell backwards.

Maul quickly and instinctively caught her body. Her breathing was becoming more and more labored.

"Y-you fight well in the o-old style. Y-you would make a great member of our order."

Maul let out a sigh. "I did not truly best. I only survived because I got a lucky shot in."

Adephagia let out a airy chuckle. Sometimes that's all it takes child. You can be the best swordsman in the world, but fortune will not always smile on you."

She proceeded to squeeze maul hands tight enough to the point he felt his bones pop. "Heed my words though Maul. Banites always betray each other. I fear you will learn that soon enough."

"I'll...keep that in mind."

"Good, I see much potential in you Maul. I don't want to see it go to waste."

Maul found himself stepping back as Adephagia started to glow. A huge wave of force energy burst from her as her body seemingly disappeared. Soon he was all alone. He took a deep and barely staggered to his feet. Several of his ribs were broken from where she had tackled him, lashed were all over his body. That had been the closest he had been to dying in battle. Yet that did not disturb her so much as the fact that the last look on his opponents face was a smile, not of malice but of content. Just the one argument she had made about the rule of two was enough to intrigued him, he couldn't help but wonder what all teachings she could have possibly have had, not just of the dark side but of the force itself. She had just said how he had a lot of potential that she did not want to go to waste, was it possible that she was the master that he was looking for, one that would have taught him the things that Sidious would not. Did he do the wrong thing in killing her? Alone in his own thought Maul walked back to the ship and sat in the co-pilot seat.

"I take it the mission went well." O-66 asked.

Maul only said three words. "We're done here."