"Maul," the voice beckoned.
"Yes, my master?" Darth Maul exited her master's chamber onto the balcony.
"The time for action is soon. Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen, the invasion of Naboo was swift and occurred without flaw. As predicted, she fled from the planet with the Jedi." Maul gritted her teeth at the mention of the enemy. Sidious paid her no mind and continued. "Her vessel has been traced to a remote world in the Outer Rim called Tatooine. You are to travel there, kill the Jedi and capture the queen. You will then bring her here to me," he left out the rest of the details.
"Tatooine is sparsely populated, if the trace was correct, I will find them quickly, my master."
"Good, my apprentice."
"At last it is time to reveal ourselves to the Jedi, at last we will have revenge," Maul said with an evil smirk. Sidious' face was split by a broad grin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maul's Sith Infiltrator flew through hyperspace, en route to Tatooine. Maul laughed quietly to herself. Finally, an opportunity arises to kill some Jedi, this'll be fun, she thought. A red bulb blinked on, and a siren warbled. Maul silenced its cry and brought her vessel into realspace. The dirty tan sphere that was Tatooine filled the viewport. She grasped the controls and guided the Infiltrator down into the atmosphere. She performed a smooth landing on a craggy cliff. Powering down the engines, she left the cockpit and walked down the extended landing ramp. Darth Maul surveyed the terrain through macro-binoculars. Damn, they are cloaking their presence in the Force well. She pressed a button on her wrist-control. Inside the ship, several dark-eye probe droids were released from their containment racks. They floated down the ramp and paused near their owner. Maul turned toward the city in the distance and the droids flew down the steep slope toward Mos Espa. She spun on her heel and reentered her craft.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maul couldn't sleep. Her anticipation of the confrontation with the Jedi was too great. She closed her eyes and gathered the Force around her, willing it to tire her. She could feel her energy falter slightly. Suddenly, a feeling a fatigue swept over her. Maul decided to finally get to sleep. She walked over to her cot in the corner of the living space of her ship. Although it was compact in size, the living quarters adequately provided for her needs. It could in fact, sustain her for two weeks, if she needed to remain here that long. She reached behind her and unclipped her belt. She then removed her boots and put both on a clothing rack next to her small bed. Maul removed her tunic, kicked off her pants, and climbed into bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maul opened her eyes. Realizing where she was, she quickly sat up. The cover fell from her shoulders and landed in her lap. She composed herself and got out of bed. As she walked over to the small food preparation area, she noticed her tattooed form in the mirror on the wall. She paused and looked over her shoulder at the reflection. Black covered her lower back in a V shape, and was drawn to reveal a red diamond pattern going down her spine. The black markings moved inward at the small of her back, creating a strip that broadened to move over her buttocks diagonally. This formed a red triangle starting at the base of her spine and down the centered portion of her butt. Her legs were tattooed in a spiraling pattern of red and black. She turned around to look at her image from the front. The black oval around her neck produced a thin line that went down the center of her chest. It created rib-like designs on her toned abs. Her breasts remained largely unmarked, with the exception of the broad, black ring at the base of each breast and extended several inches, and the black tattooed tips of her red-purple nipples. As the tattoos moved downward, they created an almost arrow-shaped marking that seemingly pointed toward her genitalia. That area, starting where a human's pubic hair would be, remained unadorned in its natural red color.
A beep sounded from the cockpit and Maul snapped back into reality and headed there. The activated screen told her a dark-eye droid had found something, and was quickly approaching the ship. Excitement overcame her and she scrambled back to her quarters to dress. Shortly, a fully clothed Maul exited the Infiltrator and removed her specially designed speeder bike from the cargo hold. She locked up the ship and waited for the droid in the distance to make its way up the cliff. When it arrived, it buzzed a reply to her wordless inquiry. She smiled faintly and rode down the cliff.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Qui Gon Jinn and Anakin Skywalker hurried toward the queen's chrome Nubian cruiser. Maul in her Sith speeder appeared behind them out of nowhere. The hum of her speederbike filled their ears. Qui Gon whirled around.
"Anakin, drop!" The boy fell flat to the ground. Maul flipped off of her bike and slashed at the boy's head with her ignited lightsaber. Instead, she cut the strap of his backpack. Qui Gon engaged his own green-bladed saber and dashed to meet Maul. They began the battle. Qui Gon blocked one of Maul's blows and shoved her backward with his blade. "Get to the ship! Tell them to take off!" Maul regained her balance and continued to attack. The boy rushed up the ramp of the ship, which lifted off the ground. After a flurry of blows, Maul snarled and swung to behead the Jedi Master. Qui Gon became startled upon realizing the Sith was female from her cry. He bent backward to avoid the red blade of energy, but it sliced across his chest. Fortunately, it only left a burnt gash in his poncho. Above the warriors, the Nubian cruiser hovered nearer. Qui Gon caught sight of this out of the corner of his eye and used to Force to leap twenty feet into the air. He landed on the ramp. Maul growled at her escaping prey and hurdled high onto the open ramp. The Jedi was surprised at her tenacity and met her blade with his once again. The ship began to shoot upward, and both lost their balance. They tripped and began to skid toward the end of the landing ramp. Qui Gon reached upward and grabbed the edge of the ramp. Maul did too, but she latched into the end. The ship halted in its ascent and Qui Gon lost his grip. With his now free hand, he held it open-palmed toward the Sith. He used the Force to push her off the ramp. With a screech, Maul fell from the ship, and Qui Gon bounded into the main chamber of the vessel. She gritted her teeth and concentrated, using the Force to ease her eighty-foot descent. Maul landed in the sand with a thud and rolled forward to spread the power of the impact force. Maul struggled to her feet and watched her objective fly into the upper atmosphere. She disengaged her saber angrily and hopped onto her nearby speederbike. She rode back to her ship in a furious silence.
Arriving at the Sith Infiltrator, she gathered the dark-eye probes and stowed them away. She was covered in dirt and sweat from the afternoon's activities. Maul removed her outer robe and belt then tossed her shirt at the clothing hangar. It missed and fluttered to the deck beside the cloak and belt. She sat down in the cockpit. Her gloved hands grabbed the controls and she lifted off. Once off the planet, she set a course for Coruscant and entered the ship into hyperspace. She made her way back to her quarters, stripping her clothing off as she went. She gathered the shirt from the floor and threw all the garments into a cleaning device. She flung open a metal drawer, snatched a towel from it and stomped off to the 'fresher.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maul entered her master's chambers. His hooded visage was turned away, he had his back to her.
"The Jedi are here on Coruscant with the queen," he knew without her opening her mouth to say a word. Maul's eyes widened in shock. "Don't act so surprised my apprentice, this turn of events works well to our advantage. Now that the queen is here, she is going to attend a meeting of the senate. I have already arranged for her to place a vote of no confidence in the leadership of Supreme Chancellor Valorum," this news astounded the young woman more than his previous feat. "When the vote is called, I'm certain our candidate for the position will prevail," Darth Sidious finally turned to Maul. "You may return to your quarters for the time being, but when the queen decides to return to Naboo, you will follow them."
"Yes, my master." Sidious dismissed her with a wave of his hand. She nodded her heard curtly and walked briskly to her room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following day, Maul lie in bed.
"Arise, the queen leaves for Naboo in four hours," her master's voice called from the comlink next to her bed. Maul threw off the covers and headed toward the 'fresher to start getting ready.
Four hours later, she was back in the Sith Infiltrator, tailing the queen's vessel in hyperspace, on the way back to the planet of Naboo. She knew the queen would return to the palace, and decided to head there after landing. As she expected, the queen did not go directly to the occupied palace, but went toward Naboo's swamps to rally the resistance. Maul landed her vessel in a secret hangar at the rear of the palace. She left the ship and cloaked her presence using the Dark Side. Maul entered Nute Gunray's audience room before she stopped the cover and turned to see the stunned Nemoidians.
"H-how did you g-get here, Darth M-maul?!?" The Viceroy demanded.
"The queen has returned, the Jedi are with her," she replied bluntly.
"Oh no, what about Darth Sidious' plans?" Rune Haako piped in from the side.
"It is none of your concern, the queen is rallying troops and will attack very soon. Get your droids ready to put down the rebellion, Viceroy."
"Y-yes-sir, uh, ma'am!" He activated a commlink and conferred with Daultay Dofine, who remained about the droid control ship. Soon, the Jedi will arrive, and meet their demise!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blasters ablaze, the Naboo forces entered the hangar. Droids fell left and right, damaged and destroyed by blaster fire. Pilots jumped into their fighters and took off. Anakin clamored into one of the yellow N-1 starfighters, whose astromech droid happened to be R2-D2. As the remaining ground troops neared the immense doors that lead to the courtyard of the palace, they opened by themselves. Maul stood in the doorway, ready for combat.
"We'll handle this," Qui Gon motioned for Amidala and Panaka to lead the others another way to the palace. Panaka announced the new plan to the soldiers, and they moved on. The two Jedi removed their brown robes, as Maul did her black cloak. They freed their lightsabers from their belts and held them at the ready. Maul removed her double-bladed saber from the belt-clip and held it out in front of her. She ignited one blade, then the other. Obi-Wan let out a small gasp as he realized the full potential of the Sith weapon. He and Qui Gon quickly activated their own lightsabers.
The Sith made the first move and charged toward the two Jedi. They met her red blades and parried the sequence of swings she performed. Maul took a step back and used one blade to swipe at the padawan with all her might. Obi-Wan parried the blow, but it left him open. She blocked Qui Gon's green blade, then kicked Obi-Wan under the chin. He lurched backward and fell hard on his tailbone. Meanwhile, Maul continued to press her attack against the aging Jedi Master. Qui Gon was highly skilled in the Jedi art of lightsaber battle, but his age slowed him down. Obi-Wan sprang back to his feet and rushed to get back into the duel. Maul flipped backward to distance herself. She opened the door behind her with the severed torso of a battle droid, using the Force. She backed into the Theed Generator, followed closely by the two Jedi.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
High above, on a thin catwalk, the three combatants went back and forth, trading blows. Maul flipped onto a new walkway, followed quickly by Obi-Wan, she got under his guard, knocked his saber arm aside and roundhoused him in the chest. Qui Gon leapt to the new platform as his padawan fell several stories down. Obi-Wan landed hard on his side and fell off the platform. He managed to grab it by its edge. Maul knocked Qui Gon back, then made ready to jump to kill the vulnerable apprentice. Qui Gon jumped down after her and, mid-air kicked her in the side. Both of them landed on a catwalk three platforms above the floundering Obi-Wan. They battled toward the end of the walkway, and into the projecting shields. The padawan got onto the catwalk and leapt up to their own. He raced after them, but became separated when the laser gates moved into position.
They waited for several minutes, and as they did, a kneeling Obi-Wan realized how much his side ached. The fall must have at least cracked a rib or two, perhaps broken them. The other two stared each other down, as they held their deactivated weapons. The gates opened and Obi-Wan's master and the Sith began dueling again. He got to his feet as quick as he could, but the intense pain and the lack of adrenaline that had stopped flowing during the rest kept him moving at a slow rate. He missed the last door and is closed in his face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Darth Maul smiled as she tricked the venerable Jedi Master into leaving his torso unprotected and impaled him with a red blade. His lightsaber deactivated and clunked to the ground next to the dying master.
"NOOOOOO!" Obi-Wan screamed from behind the gate. It opened and he ignited his lightsaber before racing to meet his opponent. At first Maul was stunned by the determination in the young Jedi. He launched a risky attack and cut her weapon in half. Soon, his animosity took over his mind and she gained the upper hand. Maul blocked one of his strikes downward, and reached over to wrap her forearm around his neck. She held her lightsaber out in front of him, pressing his own blade toward his chest.
"Killing your master was fun, but I have the feeling you're going to be much more enjoyable," she cooed into his ear. She turned her waist and ground her right hip into the small of his back. He flinched and gritted his teeth. Maul laughed quietly and kneed him in the back. Obi-Wan let out a small cry. She tightened her grip on his throat, and he coughed trying in inhale a breath. She bit her lower lip and shoved him forward, batting his saber away, then calling it to her hand. She clipped it to her belt and deactivated her own saber. "Come and get it, boy!" She challenged. Obi-Wan charged forward and she decked him. "Oops!" She causally tossed his weapon into the pit. He punched her calf and she lost her balance. He rolled out from under her into a crouching position. She pounced on him, kicking and punching. He soon became exhausted from the beating. Darth Maul smiled and brought him to his feet. She pulled him to her and loosened her tunic. She placed on of his hands on her clothed chest. Obi-Wan began to become fully aware again. Maul grinned and grabbed his crotch hard, causing the padawan to yelp. His plan was already in motion however. She began to slip off her tunic, and Obi-Wan played along. Maul opened it and twirled the belt playfully. Suddenly, his master's lightsaber hilt flew through the air.
"Damn you!" she shouted and ignited her own saber. But it was too late, with a satisfying thwack, the lightsaber was in his hands and he swung in a broad arc, bisecting her from hip-to-hip. She blinked several times and fell backward into the pit, dropping downward into the abyss. Darth Maul hit her head on a knob projected from a wall and knew no more.