Secrets of the Sith
Obi-Wan sat with Bail Organa in a conference room aboard the abandoned Haven-class space station that was once the base of General Grievous. Through the viewport he could see the Resolute and several other ships of the fleet. The station, silent when they arrived, now whirred with activity as clones, droids, and intelligence officers poured through it, looking for any sign of Darth Maul. The interrogation of Maul's captured co-conspirators had led them to the Separatist base, but now the trail was going cold.
A pile of datapads sat before the two men. After reading through thousands of logs and reports Obi-Wan's eyes were beginning to glaze over. Across from him, Bail let out a heavy sigh and tossed the datapad he'd just finished searching back onto the table. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "There's nothing here," Bail said with frustration, "not a damn thing."
"I can't believe we haven't had any tips on the ship," Obi-Wan said, setting aside his datapad too. "A vessel the size of the Selonia can't just disappear. They have to have gone somewhere. How is it no one has seen them?"
"We've got scouts and agents in and around all the old Separatist strongholds, and in Hutt Space. We've even got people on Dathomir. Plus a substantial reward on offer." Bail drummed his fingers anxiously against the table. "It doesn't make any sense." The door hissed open and an intelligence officer entered the room.
"What have you found?" Bail asked.
"We can confirm he was here. The hangar logs show he arrived from Makria Station aboard a Separatist freighter," he said. "A group of Separatists fighters who escaped Ryloth retreated here, and it appears they brought him to Coruscant, but it doesn't look like anyone returned after the attack."
"Send scouts to Makria Station, that lead should be investigated further," Bail told him. The officer saluted and left, but Mace Windu was waiting in the hall. As the officer exited, he leaned into the doorway.
"We have an urgent message from Alderaan," he said, "we need both of you in the comm center." Grateful for any reason to stop his tedious work, Obi-Wan got up at once and he and Bail followed Master Windu to the comm center. There was a gathering of Republic officers and Jedi huddled around the room's large holoprojector. Obi-Wan squeezed into the circle and saw Master Unduli was projected there, her apprentice in the background. Several members of the Jedi Council, including Master Yoda, were conferencing in from Coruscant, as was General Palpatine.
"Master Unduli," Master Windu said, bowing to his colleague, "please proceed."
"Anakin Skywalker is missing," she said.
"What?" Obi-Wan asked aloud without thinking.
"He left Alderaan," Luminara continued, "He stole a ship and in the night and now he cannot be found."
"What ship?" Obi-Wan asked, afraid he already knew the answer.
"The vessel is the property of Senator Naberrie," she said. "The Outlander." Obi-Wan hung his head as Luminara confirmed his fears.
"Where is the senator?" Mace asked.
"Also missing," Luminara answered. Of course, Obi-Wan thought. He envisioned Padme and Anakin sneaking aboard the Outlander and flying away together. He almost felt relieved. It would be a scandal, but maybe it was for the best. However, his vision was shattered by Luminara's next words. "But the senator did not leave on the same vessel."
"You're certain?" Obi-Wan asked, convinced there must be some mistake.
"The hangar security vid shows that she left shortly after Skywalker in a one-man fighter," she explained.
"But...why?" Admiral Yularen asked. There was a pause. Obi-Wan felt certain Luminara would not have an explanation for the seemingly strange behaviour of his apprentice and the senator, but he was wrong.
"We have reason to suspect they may have gone after Darth Maul," she announced. Obi-Wan felt shock and confusion hit the room.
"Explain." Master Windu said warily, raising his voice above the concerned mutters of the gathered crowd.
"They were overheard discussing Maul during our voyage to Alderaan," she said, "and Queen Breha has, reluctantly, indicated that the senator confided in her a concern that Skywalker was unhappy with his current assignment and might attempt to pursue the Sith Lord."
"But they can't know where to find him," Bail pointed out. "No one knows where he is."
"I'm afraid it appears that may not quite be true," Master Unduli said. She brought forth a pocket holoprojector and activated it, showing a star chart. "There is an interstellar beacon onboard the vessel taken by the senator. We cannot track her path, but it does show her current position, here, in the Unknown Regions," she said, indicating a bright point in an otherwise blank portion of the map. "It seems she knew where she was going. We assume Skywalker's destination was the same."
"Without knowing her route, it could take weeks to chart a course to them through the Unknown Regions," Admiral Yularen said grimly.
"In great danger they will be, if they find Darth Maul," Yoda said gravely.
"Agreed," Mace said, "We need to find a way to get to them sooner."
"There are some intelligence sources here that may not yet be fully tapped," General Palpatine said thoughtfully, "I will oversee the interrogations myself."
"We can send scouts to the edge of the Unknown Regions to scan for uncharted hyperspace lanes," Yularen offered, "we might get lucky."
"And I will direct Republic Intelligence to search our databases and consult sources for information about the area, it's possible there is someone out there who already knows how to reach this place," Bail added.
"The Jedi will assist in these efforts," Mace said, and Yoda nodded in agreement.
"Very good," General Palpatine said. He turned toward Obi-Wan. "Don't worry, Master Kenobi, we will find Anakin." The various holograms flickered and disappeared while those gathered in the comm center began to disperse, murmuring to one another about the sudden turn of events. KeAnn Lyosar, who had been standing on the other side of the room, made her way over to Obi-Wan and pulled him aside.
"Kenobi," she whispered, "it occurs to me that there might be a reason Anakin knew where to find Maul." Obi-Wan looked at her quizzically.
"What do you mean?" he asked, puzzled.
"We sent scouts to Dathomir, thinking Maul might return to his homeworld," she said softly, "What if we had the right idea, but the wrong planet?" she asked. "What if he did go home, but home isn't on Dathomir?" The wheels of Obi-Wan's mind began to turn as he contemplated what KeAnn was implying.
"You think he's returned to the place he was trained?" he asked her.
"I think there's a very good chance," she said. "Someone taught Sola Skywalker to use the Force. Someone gave her that Sith vibroblade. What if she and Maul were trained in the same place?" Obi-Wan felt the blood drain out of his face.
"If you're right, she might have told Anakin about the planet…" Obi-Wan trailed off, thinking, It made some sense, but the theory didn't fit with what he knew of the late Captain Skywalker. "But even if that's true, Sola wouldn't have told Anakin how to get to such a place," he argued.
"Maybe," KeAnn said with a shrug, "or maybe not." Obi-Wan wanted to discount the possibility KeAnn was right, but the seeds of doubt were now sown in his mind. He knew what he had to do. Sighing heavily, he walked over to Mace Windu, KeAnn not far behind him.
"Master Windu," he said, "I must confess something to you." Mace turned and arched an intrigued eyebrow. Obi-Wan took a deep breath. "Four years ago, I was not entirely forthcoming with the Council regarding all I knew about Sola Skywalker."
"Would this information you withheld be pertinent to the disappearance of your apprentice?" Master Windu asked, frowning at Obi-Wan. There was no missing the annoyance in the Jedi Master's voice.
"Yes," Obi-Wan said, glancing over at KeAnn, "I fear it may be."
The guards came for Tarkin in the dead of night. They wrenched him from his cell as he slept, binding his hands in front of him. They hauled him roughly out of the prison and towards a secure transport. He tried to pull away, but the grips of the guards only tightened as they brought him into the transport.
The transport was windowless, making it impossible for Tarkin to get his bearings. Before long the transport came to a halt and he was forced out of it, squinting against the glow of lights illuminating Coruscant's night sky. He recognized the Senate Building, but even in the dark he could see that a huge chunk of it was gone, leaving most of the structure in ragged tatters. He knew there'd been an attack, but he'd never imagined it was something of this magnitude.
He couldn't gape at the ruined building for long. The guards pushed him forward, toward an adjacent tower. He realized it was a residential building commandeered by the Republic for military use in the wake of the attack. Beleaguered residents grumbled to one another as they were escorted out of the building by clone troopers, passing by Tarkin on his way up a ramp to the entrance.
They went through a crowded lobby and up a lift. The numbers on the lift climbed higher until they were near the top floor. Then it stopped and the guards marched Tarkin out into a large and comfortable apartment hastily transformed into some kind of temporary command center. At a desk near the center of the former living room was a man Tarkin immediately recognized, and his heart went cold with fear.
"Release him and leave us," General Palpatine ordered, standing behind his desk. One guard uncuffed Tarkin, but as soon as he was free the other shoved him from behind, throwing Tarkin to the ground before sweeping from the room. Tarkin landed painfully on his hands and knees.
"Arise, Colonel," Palpatine ordered. Tarkin got up slowly, massaging his wrists. He stood, eyeing Palpatine warily. "Please," Palpatine said pleasantly, "sit." He gestured to a chair in front of the desk.
Tarkin stood still for a moment, then moved slowly toward the chair and sank down into it. It had been years since he'd sat on something so soft. Palpatine waited for him to sit, than returned to his own chair on the other side of the desk, pressing his fingertips together and surveying Tarkin.
"Colonel Tarkin, I require your assistance." Tarkin bristled, drawing himself up as straight as he could.
"I do not serve the Republic," Tarkin said stonily. He didn't know what possible use he could be to Palpatine. He'd been thoroughly interrogated four years before. What more could they hope to wring from him now?
"No," Palpatine said measuredly, "You have only ever served one cause, Colonel. Your own."
"I am loyal to the Separatists!" Tarkin insisted.
"Do not lie to me, Colonel," Palpatine said coldly. "You are no bleeding heart rebel. You joined the Separatist fight to advance your own interests." Tarkin didn't dispute this. "You have a keen eye for opportunity. It has served you well, except for your misstep regarding the Jedi," Tarkin looked up sharply, and Palpatine smiled. "Oh yes, I know you tried to bring Kenobi in alive against the orders of Darth Maul."
"How?" Tarkin breathed. "How could you know that?" He never put the order in writing, he only gave it to a single officer, whom he knew perished in the Battle of Alderaan just a few days later. But somehow, Palpatine still knew.
"You will find I know a great many things, Colonel," Palpatine said coolly. Tarkin gave an involuntary shiver. "You let Kenobi live and you paid the price. A valuable lesson. In the future I trust you will do better."
"In the future?" Tarkin repeated, uncertain of Palpatine's meaning. "What exactly are you offering me?" Tarkin asked cautiously.
"A second chance," Palpatine said, "in exchange for Darth Maul."
"Maul is dead," Tarkin said dismissively.
"Oh no, I'm afraid he's very much alive." Palpatine activated the holoprojector in the desk and Tarkin watched, shocked, as security footage of Maul taking Chancellor Valorum hostage played out before him. "He led the attack on the Senate. He is responsible for the death of the chancellor."
"It isn't possible," Tarkin murmured, watching the holo.
"Yet it is true," Palpatine said, stopping the playback. "Maul survives, and it is now imperative that he be found as swiftly as possible."
"I can't help you," Tarkin said quickly. "I don't know where he is." Palpatine smiled patiently.
"But I do." Palpatine pressed a button on the desk console and the frozen image of Maul was replaced with a star chart.
"Are you familiar with this system?" Palpatine asked. Tarkin shook his head. None of the planets on the chart were labeled.
"It looks like this is in the Unknown Regions," Tarkin observed. Palpatine nodded.
"Just beyond our borders. And this," Palpatine zoomed in on one of the planets, "is the place Darth Maul is most likely to be at this very moment."
"I don't understand," Tarkin said, looking up from the chart to Palpatine. "You have all the information you need. What role would I play?"
"You will memorize the chart," Palpatine said. "You will tell anyone who asks that Maul showed you this location himself. You were, after all, his most trusted officer." Tarkin studied the map, already beginning to commit it to memory as he tried to understand Palpatine's play.
"You don't want anyone to know this map came from you," Tarkin said slowly, thinking out loud as he studied the star chart. For a moment, Tarkin's mind foundered, stretching for the answer to the riddle. Palpatine seemed to be waiting for him to work it out. When the solution sprang into his mind at last, he could hardly contain his shock.
"It was you," Tarkin said shakily, fitting the pieces together. "You were Maul's contact. The one who gave him the code to activate Order 66." Palpatine was silent, but Tarkin thought he detected an approving look pass over the general's face. "I don't understand," Tarkin said. "Why?" Palpatine rose and stood at the window, his back to Tarkin.
"The Republic is weak," Palpatine said with disdain as he surveyed the city-planet below. "We allowed the worlds outside the Core to become lawless and corrupt. The galaxy demands strong leadership. It has been many years since the Republic was able to provide it." Tarkin could not believe what he was hearing.
"Then you're a Separatist," Tarkin said, his mind still reeling.
"The Separatists wish to undo the Republic," Palpatine said, waving a hand dismissively as he turned back around. "I will see it remade." Tarkin thought he saw a yellowish gleam in the general's eyes as he leaned over his desk, staring hard at Tarkin. "When this war ends, a new order will rise in the galaxy. When that time comes, whose side do you want to be on?"
Tarkin said nothing in reply. Palpatine's eyes bored into his, waiting, expectantly, for Tarkin's answer. But Tarkin had no answer. He was in a state of shock. If Palpatine was playing both sides of the conflict, the entire war was built on a lie. But perhaps it didn't matter. Perhaps the wisest course was to take the chance Palpatine was offering him. When Tarkin made no reply, Palpatine returned to his seat.
"You will be placed on Admiral Yularen's ship as a guide, still under Republic custody, of course," Palpatine continued on, as though Tarkin had already agreed to help him. "You will give up the location of your former comrade as part of a bargain to secure your release."
"What else is part of this bargain?" Tarkin asked carefully.
"Once Darth Maul is found, you will return to Coruscant and enter my service. You will assist me in hunting down any remaining Separatist cells as a test of your loyalty." Tarkin's stomach turned. It was one thing to help bring in Maul. He'd long harbored a hatred of the Separatist leader, who he saw as little more than an agent of chaos. But Palpatine was demanding far more than that.
"What if I don't accept your terms?" Tarkin demanded, staring defiantly at Palpatine. The general frowned, and Tarkin once again thought he saw a yellow glint in his eyes. Then, without warning, Palpatine raised his hand and a bolt of blue lightning hit Tarkin square in the chest, throwing him from his chair.
The jolt of electricity stopped as quickly as it had started, but every part of Tarkin's body ached with pain as he tried to pick himself up from the floor. As he turned over, he saw Palpatine looming over him. There was no doubt now, the man's eyes glowed a feverish yellow, and his face was waxen.
"Take what I am offering you," Palpatine spat down at him,"or suffer the consequences of your defiance." Tarkin knew there was only once choice. No one would believe the things he'd just seen Palpatine say and do, and even if they did, he was still surrounded by people who considered him the enemy. There was only one way forward.
"I graciously and humbly accept your offer, General." Tarkin bowed his head even though he remained on the ground, half-propped up on his arms, too weak to stand.
"Good," Palpatine said as he sat back in his chair, smiling sinisterly, "good."
The Outlander descended below the steely clouds of the glittering planet as Anakin thumped his palm against the ship's scanners, trying in vain to force them to read properly. The high levels of silicate in the atmosphere made it all but impossible for him to scan for other ships and lifeforms, as the irregular glass particles in the air and on the surface caught and refracted his signal.
Below the clouds the world was drowned in flying glass. Anakin turned up the Outlander's shields to their full strength and watched as the glass bullets hit them and disintegrated. His shields were taking a beating and he was flying almost blind, but still Anakin pressed on. His sensors might not be picking anything up, but he could sense the presence of Darth Maul through the Force, dark and malevolent.
A few dozen meters below the cloudline the storm suddenly let up and he could see the gentle outline of some sort of facility on the ground below. He maneuvered the ship toward it and saw the doors of a small hangar open up in the planet's surface. As he drew closer to the surface he felt the Force swirling below, as strong as the whipping winds that buffeted his ship.
Anakin gripped the controls of the Outlander. The open hangar seemed to beckon to him, but he could not forestall the warning ringing through his mind. There was danger below, and maybe even death. He could lose everything. He knew this; he felt it, with a terrifying certainty, but the cold anger in his heart drove him on as he nosed the Outlander down toward the darkness beneath him.
Dust rose around the Outlander as Anakin landed it in the hangar, obscuring the cockpit viewport. A series of creaks and clangs issued from above him as the hangar doors closed. He was not alone, that much he could be sure of. He left his Jedi cloak draped over the pilot's chair and headed for the gangway, his lightsaber hilt clutched in his hand.
The hangar was dark, but Anakin ignited his lightsaber to illuminate it. As his eyes adjusted to the low light, Anakin saw the hangar was empty save for a few antique starfighters. It was eerily silent. Clearly no one had set foot here for many years. Anakin moved through the darkness slowly, carefully making his way across the hangar. Though he'd never been here before, there was a surreal familiarity to the place. Following his instincts, he headed for one of the long, deserted corridors leading away from the hangar.
Maul was nearby. He could feel it. His senses felt more finely attuned in this place where the Force was so concentrated. His heart raced as he rounded each corner, certain the Sith Lord would be just beyond it, but each time he was disappointed. Still, he felt certain the Force was guiding him toward something. He made a turn and stopped short as he came face to face with a door he knew. It didn't look particularly distinct from the other doors in the corridor, but Anakin immediately sensed that this was the door from his dream.
Anakin held his breath as he reached out his hand to open the door. He held his lightsaber out in front of him to light up the room. For a moment he hoped wildly that he would see his mother, as he had in his vision, but the space was unoccupied. A thick layer of dust coated the spare bedroom furniture inside and small clouds of it rose from beneath Anakin's boots as he stepped inside.
Although she was long dead, he felt his mother's presence all around. He did not understand what this place was, but there was no doubt that she had been here, and that some part of her presence still lingered. However, her presence was not the only thing he sensed. The door behind him was still open. He felt all the hair stand up on the back of his neck and whirled around, his weapon raised before him.
"Well young Skywalker," Darth Maul said as he stepped through the doorway, out from the shadows and into the blue glow of Anakin's lightsaber, "have you come for your revenge?"
Without thinking, Anakin lunged. A ruby red blade erupted from Maul's hand and blocked Anakin's blow. Anakin, focused on the Sith Lord's lightsaber, didn't see the flash of silver vibroblade until it was almost too late. He jumped back just in time for the blade to whistle past his torso, cutting a jagged line through the outermost layer of his tunic.
Anakin was now stuck in the enclosed space of the small room, with Maul looming in the doorway. The Sith Lord sheathed the knife in the scabbard behind his back and activated the other half of his dual-bladed lightsaber. Fear gripped the young Jedi as Maul advanced on him. Anakin tried to take a step back, but his leg bumped up against the dust-covered bed behind him. He was backed into a corner.
Maul slashed at him, and Anakin dropped into a crouch, ducking beneath the blade. Sparks showered down on him as Maul's blade sliced through the wall behind them. Anakin swiped a leg out at Maul's feet, forcing the Sith Lord to jump backwards. Anakin quickly rose back to a standing position, his lightsaber at the ready.
His arms shook slightly beneath the power of Maul's strike, but he summoned his pent up rage and used the Force to help him push Maul back. Maul staggered for a moment, surprised at Anakin's strength, and the young Jedi took his chance to make a furious downslash at his opponent, forcing Maul back through the doorway. The corridor was illuminated only by the light of their sabers and the orange glow of sparks as they moved down it, matching one another blow for blow.
"You're on my territory now, Skywalker," Maul taunted him as he slipped suddenly around a dark corner. "It was here that I learned the ways of the Force, and the power of the dark side," Maul said as Anakin pursued him down the corridor. "Sola learned them here too," Maul added as their blades made contact again. Anakin stared hard at the Sith Lord.
"Liar," he spat, but Maul only grinned as he pushed roughly against Anakin's blade, forcing the young Jedi to break away and step backward.
"Am I?" Maul asked, lowering his weapon slightly. Anakin stayed where he was, breathing hard, one eye on the red lightsaber. Maul did not move to strike and Anakin took this brief reprieve to gather himself. "You already know the truth."
"The only truth I know," Anakin said, raising his blade once more, "is that I'm going to kill you." Maul grinned menacingly as he readied himself for Anakin's attack.
"If that is your destiny."
"So," Mace Windu said slowly, his fingertips pressed together as he sat before Obi-Wan and KeAnn in his chambers. "Sola Skywalker was trained by the Sith."
"I can't be certain of that," Obi-Wan cautioned, but he could see Master Windu was not interested in any backpedaling now.
"And you did not think this should be brought to the attention of the Council when we were considering your request to take Anakin Skywalker as an apprentice?" Mace asked pointedly, eyeing Obi-Wan.
"I did not want her past to color Anakin's future," Obi-Wan said, trying to explain himself, but he could see the Jedi Master was not interested in excuses. Mace stood up and began pacing the room.
"We allowed a boy who may very well have been trained in the dark side of the Force to enter our sacred ranks!" Master Windu said irritably, striding back and forth in front of the viewport.
"He was not trained," Obi-Wan insisted. "Whatever Sola Skywalker once was, by the time I met her she'd turned away from the path of her former life."
"It's true, Master Windu," KeAnn offered, stepping forward.
"With all due respect, Commander, what would you know of it?" Mace asked, stopping to look at her.
"I knew Captain Skywalker when she smuggled arms for the Rogues," she explained. Mace gave an impatient huff.
"Only the word of an ex-Jedi to back you up, Obi-Wan?" he asked, turning back to his fellow Jedi. Before Obi-Wan could say anything in response, they were interrupted by a message on the comm. "Yes, what is it?" Mace asked shortly.
"Sir, a shuttle has just arrived from Coruscant," a voice said through the speaker. "Your presence is requested in the hangar."
"We will continue this discussion later," Mace said to Obi-Wan as he stepped past them to the door.
"Come on," KeAnn said, gesturing for Obi-Wan to follow as she too headed for the hall. "Don't you want to see who it is?" Obi-Wan gave a half-hearted shrug, but decided to go with her. His mind was still on Anakin, and Sola, and wondering if he'd made the right choice four years ago.
They followed Master WIndu down the corridor, keeping back several paces, and as he descended the metal stairs onto the floor of the hangar they both remained on the platform above. A Republic shuttle was just settling into its berth, its repulsors blasting steam. As the gangway descended, a naval officer strode down it flanked by a squad of clone troopers. He saluted Admiral Yularen and Master Windu.
"I bring word from General Palpatine. He believes he has found the key to locating Darth Maul." The officer stepped aside and someone else emerged from the shuttle. Obi-Wan felt KeAnn go tense next to him as a tall, thin man with a gaunt face emerged into the hangar.
"What the hell is he doing here?" KeAnn hissed as they watched Colonel Tarkin step forward to greet Windu and Yularen.
"Admiral Yularen, General Windu." Tarkin gave a deep bow to each in turn. "I am at your service."
Maul parried another of Anakin's blows as the Jedi and the Sith battled down the corridor. Maul was surprised at the young man's strength. This was not the boy who had rashly rushed him on the Menace four years before. Now he faced a trained and seasoned combatant, a true and worthy opponent.
Their duel raged down another corridor that led into the north wing's security center. With Maul's forces either aboard the Selonia or clustered in the main section of the facility, the room was dark and empty, the blank vid screens reflecting the blue and red light of their lightsabers as the two men battled.
Maul remained on the offensive, but Anakin was holding his own and the Sith Lord knew that he would fatigue sooner than his much younger opponent. The dark side gave him strength, but Anakin was also drawing on the Force, vacillating between the darkness and the light. If Maul was going to win this fight, he needed to be strategic and goad Anakin into making a mistake.
"You are using your anger," Maul observed as he and Anakin once again locked sabers. "What would your Jedi master say about that?"
"I'm willing to do what must be done," Anakin snarled back defiantly. "I'm not afraid." Maul grinned as he pivoted away from Anakin and mounted a counterattack.
"Oh, but you are," he told Anakin as their blades crossed, "just like your mother." He saw Anakin's eyes narrow in anger. "Fear drove her, always. It made her run, it made her hide, and in the end, it destroyed her. You will be no different." Maul saw his opponent's temper flare and Anakin took a wild swing that Maul easily side-stepped, throwing Anakin off balance.
As Anakin stumbled forward he reached out a hand and grabbed the nearest console to steady himself, depressing several buttons with his palm. The walls around them came to life as the room's vid screens flickered on. Maul's eyes were drawn to the screens, as a single fighter suddenly flew across them, a dark streak across the steely sky. Reaching out with the Force, he realized there was something familiar about the pilot's presence.
"Padme," Anakin breathed as his eyes locked on the vid screen. Maul knew the name Anakin had whispered. He'd heard it many times during the Separatist occupation of Alderaan. Maul could sense Anakin was distracted and his fear heightened. It was clear that the young man cared deeply about the fate of Padme Naberrie. A plan began to form in his mind.
"A friend of yours?" Maul asked. Anakin did not respond, but continued to watch one of the vid screens as a squadron of fighters dispatched from the Selonia moved into the frame. "My fighters will make quick work of her."
"NO!" Maul felt the change in the Force as Anakin charged him with in inhuman yell. The light disappeared from the energy field as Anakin slashed at him with more power than Maul had believed possible. The room went cold with the young man's fury. Maul's weapon was knocked from his hands by the force of the blow and he reached up, desperately grabbing Anakin's wrists.
The strength Anakin was now summoning through the dark side shocked Maul, and he found he could not counter it. As the blue blade inched closer to his face, he was forced to use both his hands to hold back Anakin's sword arm. With one hand now free, Anakin's fingers found Maul's throat and he began to squeeze, cutting off Maul's air supply. The need to survive now took over Maul's brain. He pulled up his powerful mechanical legs, managing to wedge them between himself and Anakin, and gave an almighty kick. Anakin soared in the air and hit the opposite corner, his body thudding hard against the wall.
"Your hate has made you powerful," Maul rasped as he leaned on a console to get back on his feet. "But killing me will not save her." Across the room Anakin was still slumped in the corner. He clutched his ribs, Maul was sure he'd had the wind knocked out of him, but the young man's eyes were still filled with anger. Maul knew he'd hit upon a weak point, but he needed to tread carefully.
Anakin pushed himself to his feet and ignited his lightsaber. Although the young Jedi's chest was rising and falling heavily from the exertion of the fight, he raised his blade, ready for more. Maul, however, clipped his own deactivated weapon to his belt. He sensed in Anakin the same weakness that had destroyed his mother. Maul extended his open hand toward Anakin, who eyed him warily. "Surrender to me, and I will call off the fighters," Maul offered. "Your life, in exchange for hers."
Anakin stared at Maul. His body felt frozen. His eyes flickered once again to the vid screen and Padme's fighter. The Separatists were closing in on her now. His grip tightened on his lightsaber hilt. Anakin's mind raced, trying to come up with a plan, something, anything that could help Padme. In the back of his mind he could hear his mother's voice warning him that Maul was trying to trap him, but as the first green blaster bolts raced across the vid screens from the Separatist fighters towards her ship, he knew what he had to do.
The blue blade of Anakin's lightsaber descended back into the hilt as he deactivated it. He held the lightsaber out in front of him, balanced on his open palm. Maul turned his gloved hand slightly and the hilt flew out of Anakin's hand and into Maul's.
Maul clipped the Jedi weapon to his belt and, keeping his own blade at the ready, pulled open a cabinet near the door and grabbed a pair of binders. He threw the binders to Anakin, who caught them and, after a moment's hesitation, secured them over his own wrists. His heart rate picked up as the binders clicked closed. He was now a prisoner of Darth Maul, and he knew his life was almost certainly forfeit.
"Order your troops to stand down," Anakin said as he looked back up at Maul, but the Sith Lord made no move to activate his comm. "What are you doing?" Anakin demanded. "Stop them!"
"No," Maul said simply, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
"You gave me your word!" Anakin shouted at him, rushing forward, but his hands were bound and he had no weapon. In a flash Maul's lightsaber was ignited, a blaze of red that stopped Anakin dead in his tracks.
"And you were foolish enough to trust it," Maul sneered. He looked back up at the vid screen. "The only question now is who will die first? Her," Maul said as he pointed his lightsaber at Anakin's chest, "or you?"
Padme's fighter came out of hyperspace and into the inky black of subspace. She took a deep breath as she looked down at the blue planet looming outside the cockpit. This was it, the place she'd dreamed of only hours before. Her eyes swept the starry void around the giant orb, hoping to see any sign of Anakin and the Outlander, but there was nothing.
"He has to be here somewhere," she muttered to herself. A concerned warble came through the comm in her helmet. "Right, um…" she suddenly realized she'd failed to ask the little astromech's name. "What's your designation?" A series of beeps greeted her and she quickly took in the readout on the screen. "R2-D2," she said. "Is Artoo okay?" She received an affirming whistle and continued on. "Artoo, run a scan and see if there are any ships in the vicinity of the planet."
The droid beeped again, and a gentle humming picked up as he began his scan. Padme waited with a growing sense of unease as the scan continued and nothing came up on her console. Finally, the droid let out a mournful whistle and new words appeared on her screen. Padme furrowed her brow as she read them. "You're sure nothing is coming up on the scanners?" she asked.
The droid beeped apologetically and a lengthy explanation about silicate and interference came up on her screen. She skimmed the text, then sighed heavily, gazing out once more at the planet before her. She'd told herself that if she couldn't find Anakin above the planet that she would turn around and go home, that to risk anything more, to risk not only her life but the lives of her unborn children, would be madness. And yet…
"Okay, we'll just dip into the atmosphere to do a visual check and if we can't see anything, we'll go home," she said. Artoo gave a nervous bleep, but didn't protest further. Padme fired her thrusters and took her fighter through the planet's atmosphere.
"There's some kind of facility over there," Padme said, peering out the side of the cockpit. "What kind of readings are you…" She trailed off as her eyes were drawn up to a series of black specks in the distance, growing larger with each second. "Oh no." Artoo began to beep in alarm as he too saw the incoming ships.
"I see them, I see them!" Padme acknowledged frantically as she searched for the switches that would activate her shields and weaponry. "Hang on Artoo!" She brought her shields up to full power and activated her guns just as the first fighter came into range. Padme threw her stick forward, putting the fighter into a nosedive toward the surface. The topography of the planet was mostly flat, but there were a few rolling hills in the distance that Padme thought might provide her a little cover.
She pulled up and flew low over the hills, rising and falling with the undulations in the land. Glass beads kicked up beneath her engines and pinged at her shields, evaporating as they hit the protective barrier. A series of green blaster bolts whizzed overhead and she dipped the fighter lower so that she was skimming just a meter or two above the surface.
A shallow valley opened up to her right and she turned down it, the other fighters still in hot pursuit. She dodged another round of blaster fire, then brought her ship up and out of the valley, her eyes scanning the horizon for a place with better cover. In the distance she saw a cliff face and headed for it, hoping there would be a canyon beneath it. Her pursuers continued to fire and her shields were weakening, but she pressed on. She was making good time, the cliff was rapidly drawing closer.
"Wait...what is that?" Padme's eyes went wide as she realized she was looking not at a cliff, but at a flying wall of glass shards headed straight for them. She pulled up, rolling the fighter in a corkscrew to reverse her trajectory. Below her she saw one of the enemy fighters fail to adjust its course in time and disintegrate in the wave of glass. The others made the turn and headed after her.
"We have to get above the atmosphere!" she shouted at Artoo as she maxed out the engines. There was no fire coming from the other fighters now, as they too were trying desperately to outrun the planet's deadly weather. A series of terrible cracking sounds behind her told her the glass was claiming her enemies one by one.
"Come on, come on," she whispered, urging her fighter on as its engine's whined in protest. She was almost to the cloudline, but the wave was catching her, casting a shadow over the cockpit. "Forget the shields," she ordered Artoo, "put everything into the rear thrusters!" The droid gave a panicked beep, but a second later she felt the extra power kick into the thrusters and the fighter rocketed forward, up through the clouds and atmosphere and back into the safety of open space.
"Yeah, I know that was close," she told the droid in response to his disgruntled noises as she levelled out and took several deep breaths to calm her nerves. "Where did those fighters come from?" As if in answer to her question, a massive and familiar-looking ship appeared as it came around the dark side of the planet and into view. Padme's heart rate picked up again as she recognized the Selonia. "Artoo, prepare to jump to lightspeed," she said as the prison ship approached. The droid responded with an anxious beep. "I don't know, anywhere! Just get us the hell out of here!"
She could hear the whirring of the ship's computers as Artoo worked to chart a course. In the distance she could see another wing of fighters heading for her. She gunned her engines, trying to stay out ahead of the larger guns of the Selonia. If any of the cannons caught her in range, she knew she was dead.
The fighters, however, were too fast. Padme's ship rocked with blaster fire as a barrage cut across her port engine. Padme juked hard to starboard and the superior maneuverability of her ship let her swing around behind pursuers. She was now in position to get off some shots of her own.
One of her blaster bolts found its mark and an enemy fighter began to list as its engines sputtered out. She knew the victory was hollow though. She was still outnumbered and outgunned. Her shields flickered as the fighter took another hit. She pitched and rolled, trying to shake them, but there were simply too many. She watched with increasing panic as her shields began to give out. Then, out of nowhere, one of the fighters on her flank burst into a ball of fire.
"Wait, what?" A second later three Republic fighters flew directly over her, circling around to come after the other fighters. As her pursuers broke off to deal with this new threat, Padme twisted around in her seat to see where the fighters had come from. In the distance she saw five Republic star destroyers open their guns on the Selonia. As Padme watched the onslaught in relief and confusion a familiar voice came in over her headset.
"Bravo Four, Bravo Six, escort the senator to the Resolute," KeAnn said over the comm. "We'll deal with this rabble."
"No!" Maul snarled at the vid screens as the Republic fleet suddenly came out of hyperspace. Anakin took his chance and dove forward, tackling Maul. He got his binders around the Sith Lord's neck and pulled back with all his might, trying to strangle him, but Maul pitched forward and sent Anakin flying.
Maul unclipped his lightsaber and ignited both sides of it. Anakin took a careful step backwards, one eye on Maul's blade and the other on his lightsaber hilt, still clipped to Maul's belt. Anakin tried to calm and refocus his mind. He could still get out of this. Padme was safe, the Republic was coming, he only needed to stay alive long enough for someone to find him.
"You've lost," Anakin said, trying to keep Maul talking, "the Republic will destroy your troops. It's only a matter of time before they land on the planet." As he spoke, Anakin inched towards doorway.
"You use the power of the dark side, but you don't understand it," Maul said, glowering at him. "If the Jedi kill me, another like me will rise. My master lives on, the Sith live on, and we will never be defeated."
"We'll see about that," Anakin said, then suddenly thrust his hands forward and the large cabinet from which Maul had taken his binders flew at the Sith Lord. Maul raised his blade to slice the unruly projectile, but it was so large that part of it still hit him. Anakin didn't stop to see what happened next, but bolted for the door and sprinted down the corridor, running for his life.
As soon as the shuttle touched down inside the hangar of the mysterious facility, Obi-Wan was out the door. He felt the unusual strength of the Force in this place. His senses were on high alert, and a familiar, cold fear ran through his veins, the same terror he'd known two decades before on the night his master died. He'd been too late that time, too distracted, but now his focus was laser sharp. He would not fail Anakin as he'd failed his master.
Blaster bolts zinged across the hangar as Obi-Wan jumped down. Republic shuttles and fighters were landing everywhere around him. The dust in the air refracted the light of the lasers, creating a deadly light show all around them that made it very hard to tell where the enemy was. Obi-Wan charged through the dust, his lightsaber before him, and almost immediately made contact with a gaggle of Separatist fighters.
His blade cut through the blaster arm of one, and the others, realizing they stood no chance, ran off. But a moment later the fire of a heavy cannon raked Obi-Wan's position, forcing him to dive for cover behind a Republic shuttle. Another group of fighters landed and Obi-Wan saw a familiar shadow jump down from one of them. Crouching low beneath the worst of the firing, KeAnn came toward him from her starfighter, blasting Separatists with a powerful laser rifle as she moved.
"This bloody dust is a menace, it's going to take ages to clear this hangar," she muttered during a break in the onslaught as the enemy cannon reloaded. Obi-Wan surmised that if KeAnn and her Strikers were inside the facility the Selonia had either surrendered or been destroyed. Before he could inquire the hangar began shake as the big gun opened up once more, the sound of it shattering the air.
"I have to get to Anakin!" Obi-Wan told KeAnn, yelling to be heard over the blaster fire. Through the Force he could feel the distress of his apprentice. Obi-Wan could not afford to wait for the methodical approach of the Republic Navy as it cleared each space before moving to the next.
"Go," she shouted above the din, "we'll hold them here!" Obi-Wan gave her a quick nod, which she returned, then he slipped around the shuttle and ran full-tilt for a doorway he could just make out through the dust and debris of the battle. Obi-Wan cut down a lone Separatist standing near the door, then charged ahead into a dim corridor, trusting the Force to show him the way to his apprentice.
Anakin's boots skidded across the metal floor as the took a corner too fast. He pushed off from the opposite wall, urging his legs to keep going, certain Darth Maul was not far behind. He wasn't sure he could retrace his steps back to the hangar, but he somehow knew he was headed in the right direction. He could still feel his mother's presence. She was with him. He did not hear her voice, but he was nevertheless certain that she was guiding his steps.
He hurried through a doorway and into the open space of the hangar he'd landed in. He could see the Outlander and ran toward it, but he saw a beam of red to his right light up the hangar as Maul emerged from another doorway. The Sith Lord charged toward him, cutting him off from his ship, and Anakin quickly changed direction, sprinting toward a set of large blast doors to his left.
Using the Force, he flung a stray fuel canister at the door controls. The canister gave off a small explosion and the blast doors started to separate. His hands still bound before him, Anakin leapt through the small hole at the center of the doors, desperate for any lead he could gain over Maul. On the other side of the doors he found himself inside the facilities power generator, with its massive plasma beams running from floor to ceiling within a massive chasm.
Anakin ran along the narrow railed walkways that crisscrossed the generator at multiple levels, but he knew Maul wasn't far behind. When he looked back, however, the Sith Lord was nowhere to be seen. As Anakin paused, trying to locate his pursuer, Maul suddenly dropped down on the walkway in front of him, having jumped from the level above. Anakin backed up slowly as Maul advanced, but he had no weapon and nowhere to go.
"Sola died for you like the sentimental fool that she was," Maul said as he took another step toward Anakin, his weapon raised to kill. Anakin kept moving backwards, his heart pounding in his chest as he tried to think of a way out of his predicament. "There is no one here to save you this time. You're all on your own."
"No," a voice from the other side the walkway said, "he isn't." Maul spun around at the sound of the voice. Anakin followed Maul's gaze and saw Obi-Wan coming toward them, his lightsaber at the ready.
As soon as Darth Maul saw the approaching Jedi, he turned and made a vicious swing at Anakin. Unarmed, Anakin had no option but to jump back and try to stay out of range. Realizing the danger his apprentice was in, Obi-Wan broke into a sprint and attacked, forcing the Sith Lord to defend himself and turn his focus away from Anakin.
"You will not save him," Maul taunted Kenobi as their blades collided. Maul's yellow eyes bored into Obi-Wan's blue ones. A painful memory seared across the Jedi's mind. His master, cut down in the dead of night on Mandalore. Maul's eyes brightened. He had seen what was in Obi-Wan's mind. "Just as you could not save your master."
Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes at Maul as he disengaged his blade and struck again with a savage upswing. Maul caught the blow on one of his blades and forced Obi-Wan's lightsaber back down, through the rail on one side the walkway. Obi-Wan pulled his blade away and spun around, putting some distance between himself and Maul, who continued to advance on him.
With Maul otherwise engaged, Anakin managed to catch the chain of his binders in the backswing of Maul's next attack, freeing his hands. Maul tried to turn and slash at him, but Obi-Wan lunged forward, ensuring all of Maul's focus remained on his armed opponent. Anakin took advantage of Maul's distraction and raised his hand, snatching his lightsaber from the Sith Lord's belt using the Force. As soon as the hilt landed in Anakin's hand he ignited it and began his own attack against Maul from the opposite side of the walkway.
Maul was now trapped between the two Jedi, barely able to parry the blows coming at him from both sides within the narrow confines of the walkway. Maul, realizing he could not sustain the fight this way, leapt up, using the railing as a jumping off point, and catapulted himself to a wide platform between the plasma beams. Obi-Wan looked over at Anakin, who gave him a quick nod, and the two Jedi followed, flipping through the air to join Maul on the platform.
The battle raged on, two blue blades against two red as the Jedi tried to beat back Darth Maul, but the Sith Lord managed to match them blow for blow. The pace of their combat was exhausting, and Obi-Wan felt his muscles begin to protest as the fight dragged on. Parry, slash, block, attack, over and over as the fight became faster and more intense.
Maul, perhaps sensing Obi-Wan's fatigue, struck out at him and Obi-Wan deflected the blow, but only just. To his right, Anakin surged forward, attacking Maul's other blade. In a dizzying series of moves, Maul forced both of the Jedi to retreat a few steps, than landed a sharp kick to Anakin's chest which sent the young man skidding off the platform.
Obi-Wan heard Anakin land with a thud on a walkway several levels below. He knew it would take Anakin time to get back to them. It was just him and Maul now. Maul's words about his failure to save his master haunted him. He tried to push his memories away. He needed to regain his focus. He couldn't afford to succumb to the old guilt now. But this place, through which the Force coursed like a river, seemed only to sharpen his visions of the past.
Obi-Wan was certain Maul could sense his internal battle as the Jedi tried to remain in the moment. There was a malevolent glee in the Sith Lord's eyes. Obi-Wan could feel Maul probing at his mind, looking for a weakness to exploit. The Jedi did his best to shut him out. Maul started forward as if to attack again, and Obi-Wan raised his guard, but then Maul stopped short. He seemed surprised by something.
"I did not know until this moment," the Sith Lord whispered, almost to himself. Obi-Wan's blood ran cold as he saw the triumph on Maul's face. "I killed your master."
The world stopped as it all came rushing back to him. Obi-Wan was a teenager again, his heart light after a stolen evening with the young duchess of Mandalore. He was halfway back to his room when he felt it. A disturbance, a darkness in the Force, and then, his master's pain; tremendous and unbearable. He ran, but by the time he reached his master it was too late. The assassin had fled. His master lay dying, his body pierced by a laser sword.
"No," Obi-Wan breathed, but the Force showed him the truth written in Maul's mind. He could see the triumphant snarl of the young Sith as he struck true with his scarlet blade and the older Jedi fell.
"You were sent to Mandalore to restore peace," Maul said, relishing Obi-Wan's anguish. "I was sent to stop you. I ran your master through with this blade, and now I will do the same to you." Obi-Wan felt a long dormant rage bubble up the surface, and for the first time in his life, he gave into it. He attacked Maul with a ferocity he had not realized he was capable of. The Sith Lord retreated beneath the Jedi's onslaught, barely keeping pace with Obi-Wan's strikes.
Obi-Wan kept driving at Maul, letting his anger rule him. As Maul worked to parry Obi-Wan's strikes, he left the long handle of his lightsaber open to attack and Obi-Wan's blade sliced through it. The cut was slightly off center, such that one half of the lightsaber blade sputtered and faded, but the other remained ignited.
Maul chucked the useless half of his hilt at Obi-Wan's head, but the Jedi ducked out of the way. The Sith Lord reached behind his back and a vibroblade from its sheath. Obi-Wan recognized the blade as the former weapon of Sola Skywalker. In the background, Obi-Wan saw a blaze of blue as Anakin leapt from a lower level back onto the walkway. His apprentice ran full tilt down the walkway, eager to rejoin the battle.
Before Anakin could reach them, Maul pushed Obi-Wan backward with the Force and jumped at him, forcing Obi-Wan's weapon aside with his lightsaber and brandishing Sola's knife. A streak of silver slashed through the air and an intense pain erupted in Obi-Wan's right side. He heard Anakin shout and felt his old wound from the Battle of Geonosis reopen as Maul impaled him with the vibroblade.
Obi-Wan staggered, dropping down on one knee. His lightsaber clattered on the walkway next to him as his fingers released it. There was the sensation of spreading warmth as blood began to soak his tunic. Grey spots swam before his eyes, partially obscuring his vision. He could still make out the forms of Maul and Anakin though and he saw his apprentice attack Maul, drawing the Sith Lord's attention away.
Obi-Wan gritted his teeth and pulled the knife from his side, letting it fall next to him. He pressed his hands to his side, trying to stop the bleeding. He centered himself in the Force, letting go of his anger from the fight. He felt his breathing steady as he found calm, but around him the Force crackled with rage as Anakin and Maul dueled.
He knew his apprentice was using the dark side to help him in the fight, he could sense it. Then he saw Maul stumble under Anakin's ferocious offensive and the broken hilt of the Sith's lightsaber flew up, spinning in the air. When it came down it landed not in Maul's hand, but in Anakin's.
"Kneel," Anakin ordered, but Darth Maul remained standing, staring defiantly back at the young Jedi. "I said kneel!" Anakin shouted, and Obi-Wan watched as the Sith Lord's knees buckled. Obi-Wan felt the bitter cold of the Force around his apprentice as Anakin wielded it to coerce Maul into obedience.
"You have brought death and destruction to the galaxy," Anakin said, his jaw clenched in anger, "you don't deserve to live." Anakin crossed the two lightsaber blades at Maul's neck. Obi-Wan realized with horror what Anakin meant to do. "Now you will meet your destiny."
"Anakin, no!" Obi-Wan raised his hand and used all that remained of his strength to send Anakin flying with a Force push. Anakin slid along the path of a walkway, grabbing at the railing to stop his motion. Obi-Wan fell forward on his hands in exhaustion, but saw Anakin get to his feet, the two deactivated lightsabers still clenched in his fists. Anakin's expression was murderous and determined as he fixed his eyes on Darth Maul.
But just as Anakin got up and started back toward the platform where Maul was, there was the thunderous sound of many boots as the Republic forces stormed the power generator, led by Master Windu and his distinctive purple lightsaber.
Within seconds they were all surrounded and a a medic rushed over to Obi-Wan to tend his wound. Obi-Wan watched two other Jedi put specialized binders around Maul's wrists and lead him away. As the Sith Lord disappeared through the blast doors, Obi-Wan looked over at Anakin and saw his apprentice staring back at him, his eyes burning with hate.