If there was a reason besides his very obvious, and quite superior fighting skills, that he got chosen as a Sith Lord, it would be for his cunningness. Darth Maul knew his devious plans were quite ingenious, due to his superior brain. He was quite sure that Vader would never realize what hit him.

He swiped his fingers, and the door to his room opened with a hiss. He stalked through the doorway and down the halls, careful to muffle his Force presence to the very minimum. When he reached the entrance to the control room of the Stardestroyer, he paused for a moment, reaching out through the Force. Satisfied that Vader was nowhere near, he strode through the doorway. As soon as they saw him, the men within immediately straightened, and doubled their efforts. Maul went up to Admiral Piett, who was yelling at one of the men.

"Do you realize what your folly might cost you? Lord Vader may strangle you to death if he finds out about this, as he did to Admiral Ozzel, and so many others? Do you wish to share their fate?" He hissed.

"W-W-Well. . ." the man stuttered. "I'll get right to work, sir. Lord Vader need not know of this matter."

"Admiral Piett."

Firmus Piett turned around quickly. When he saw Darth Maul, he bent into a short bow. To Maul's satisfaction, he noted that the admiral did not seem to know of his fight with Vader. "Yes, Lord Maul?"

"Do you know the whereabouts of Lord Vader at the moment? Has he set off on any missions?"

"Not yet, sir. He is, ahem," Piett searched for less offensive words. It would not do to tell Lord Maul that Vader thought him "unresponsible," "immature," "a terrible leader," and "the worst Sith Lord of all time." "Well, he is rearranging everything on the Executor, ahem, putting things the way he likes them. Getting more information on our forces, our allies, the such. He is most likely in his quarters at the moment, getting ready to set out for Kamino."

"Thank you, Admiral." Piett gave a stiff nod, and turned away.

Maul also turned, and went immediately to the contact station. He typed something into the glowing control board, and quickly activated the holoprojector. He straightened his back, stood tall, and tried his best to appear dangerous and formidable. A scene flickered, and then cleared, displaying the Prime Minister of Kamino, adorned in black robes.

"Lord Maul," the alien said its slow, quiet voice. "And what is the reason I am to expect this pleasure?"

"I am told that an enemy is on his way to Kamino at this very moment. Be not deceived by his appearance. He is an enemy, and quite dangerous, I assure you. It is possible that he may be one of the last existing Jedi. He is trying to eliminate our supply of stormtroopers," Maul lied, grinning maliciously. "This is a major problem for the Empire. Lord Sidious would not have wanted his ingenious plan to be foiled by one man. Gather all the ready stormtroopers that you have there, and be prepared to keep that man away from the cloning area. He cannot be allowed to ruin our plans!"

The Prime Minister thought for a second. "I see. We have two hundred stormtroopers ready. That should be more than enough for a single man, even if he is one of the Jedi. Be assured, the man will not accomplish his plan."

"Thank you. You will be rewarded."

The Prime Minister nodded, and the hologram flickered off. Maul inactivated the holoprojector(by the way, it took a lot of research for me to figure out how to work holograms, there's like no information on the internet), smirking evilly. He turned to go back to his chambers. . .only to see Vader standing in the doorway.

Anakin knew he could not allow more stormtroopers to be cloned on Kamino. The stormtroopers were programmed to only obey the Empire, thanks to Sidious. He could not allow more of them to be created. It wasn't fair to them, and the Empire certainly had enough of them. Besides, the more stormtroopers there were, the harder it would be for the Rebel Alliance to win.

He decided his first stop would be at Kamino. He would visit the Prime Minister, and make it known that the Empire needed no more stormtroopers. Rising from his black leather couch, he put his mask on and headed to the main control room.

When he arrived, and the men saw him, they turned their terrified faces quickly to their work, frantically trying to work as quickly as was humanely possible(notice this reaction is quite different from the reaction of the men when Maul entered ;). It went silent, and the tension was palpable. Anakin marched up to Admiral Piett, who quickly straightened and put all his attention onto the towering figure before him. He swallowed nervously.

"I am leaving for a brief trip to Kamino. Ready my shuttle."

"Yes, sir."

"Where is Darth Maul?"

"He is. . ." Piett thought frantically. "He went through that doorway. Might be in the contact station." He wiped sweat off of his brow.

"Thank you."

Piett was shocked, as he wasn't use to this much politeness from the most dangerous man in the galaxy. "O-Of course, sir."

Anakin strode through the doorway. He began to walk slower as he scanned his surroundings, looking for Maul. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he slowed his breathing, knowing that Maul might be up to mischief.

Soon he was at the door of the contact station. His suspicions were correct. Maul was in the middle of contacting the Prime Minister of Kamino. He listened carefully.

". . .an enemy is on his way to Kamino at this very moment. Be not deceived by his appearance. He is an enemy, and quite dangerous, I assure you. It is possible that he may be one of the last existing Jedi. He is trying to eliminate our supply of stormtroopers," Maul was saying. "This is a major problem for the Empire. Lord Sidious would not have wanted his ingenious plan to be foiled by one man. Gather all the ready stormtroopers that you have there, and be prepared to keep that man away from the cloning area. He cannot be allowed to ruin our plans!"

The Prime Minister thought for a second. "I see. We have two hundred stormtroopers ready. That should be more than enough for a single man, even if he is one of the Jedi. Be assured, the man will not accomplish his plan."

"Thank you. You will be rewarded."

Maul inactivated the holoprojector, and turned to hurry away, an evil smirk on his face. Suddenly, he froze, seeing Anakin in the doorway, his smirk frozen on his face.

Now, it was Anakin's turn to smirk. He lifted the man off the ground, clenching his throat tightly. "And what, may I ask, are you doing?"

"N-Nothing," Maul stuttered. He seemed to collect himself. "Are you so afraid of trouble that you think everything is a plot against you?" He laughed. "You should be. I am the most powerful Sith Lord to ever exist. Someday, you will be destroyed, and I will rule the galaxy."

"Oh, really? You don't seem capable of that at the moment, seeing I could kill you right now." Anakin had an urge to strangle the man, but he knew that Maul must be kept alive for a necessary amount of time, if their plans were to succeed.

Maul's smile faltered. "I assure you, I am more powerful than you think," he said haughtily. "Now, what is your reason for keeping me here? Obviously, you are so powerful that nothing should scare you, so why are you so worried?"

"I am cautious, just like Lord Sidious. If you were a decent Sith Lord, you would know that being cautious is a smart thing to do."

Maul reddened.

"You may go. But be warned," Anakin leaned forward, "I do not tolerate rebellion. Terrible things will happen to you if you try it."

He released Darth Maul, who fell to the ground, gasping for breath. He glared at Anakin and stalked out of the room.

Anakin knew he had to watch Maul carefully. But he also had a mission to complete. Thanks to Maul, it would be more difficult now. He just had to find out how much more.

Padme was getting restless, cooped in her apartment for several days in a room. She dawdled around the place, watching holofilms, reading, and just staring out of the window, fingering the japor snippet. She was very was getting worried.

"Mom," Leia said firmly.

Padme snapped out of her reverie, and glanced up.

"You obviously need some fresh air. Stop thinking about Dad for a minute and come with Luke and I. We'll go to the market, walk around. . .do anything. We all need the exercise. It's tiring being cooped up in here."

Padme nodded. "You're right. Good idea."

A few minutes later, they were all walking out of the main entrance of the 500 Republica. Padme took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh, crisp fall air. A smile crossed her face. "It's so nice being out here again."

Luke and Leia immediately agreed. Keeping close by Padme, one standing on either side of her, the trio stolled down the streets, the twins keeping a careful watch on their surroundings. In no time, they were at the marketplace. Padme remembered the last time she had been there, and a longing look came onto her face.

"I miss Anakin," she said softly.

Leia gave her a hug. "Dad will be home soon, Mom. Don't worry."

Padme smiled at her. Suddenly, she stopped, as she had almost bumped into a man. He was very handsome, with dark hair, and a charming smile. She thought she knew his features, and was sure that she had seen him before. She couldn't put her finger on it. It was like a butterfly, keeping right out of her reach, and it was infuriating.

Luke and Leia automatically drew closer to her, Leia putting a hand on her blaster, and Luke putting a hand on the lightsaber clipped to his belt.

The man probably noticed, but he didn't act like it. "I'm sorry about that, Miss. . . ?"

"Padme."

"I'm sorry about that, Miss Padme. It was all my fault." He smiled warmly at her.

"No, part of the blame is on me, too. Don't worry about it." She smiled back. When she made to move past him, he cut in front of her again.

"You know, you are very beautiful. Possibly the most beautiful woman in the galaxy, if you don't count your young bodyguard." He winked at Leia. She was not amused.

"Thank you." She said coldly. "Not we must be on our way." She ushered Padme forward, and Luke followed suit.

"Why did you act so cold? Did he do something? I thought he was nice."

Luke furrowed his brow. "It was probably smart of Leia." He looked back, only to find that the man was gone. "There was something dangerous about him."

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