Part 19: Assault

1 BBY.

Nar Shaddaa.

Luke Skywalker was on a warpath.

Even Maul was impressed. He knew that the guilt of his apprentice inadvertently killing dozens of civilians would leave him raw and open to The Dark Side and he knew that intentionally fueling his self-hate and redirecting the suffering towards Grakkus would tie the boy back to their mission….but this was beyond Maul's expectations.

His apprentice spoke of no qualms, and took no convincing, indeed Skywalker was the one that assembled their entire forces to begin an assault against Grakkus himself and Maul could feel The Dark Side flowing readily from him. He was no longer tapping into it only when necessary, or recoiling from its power, Skywalker was embracing it and allowing it to guide his path.

For the first time since Maul had taken the boy, he truly saw his apprentice as sith.

Skywalker wielded his red lightsaber and led a group of almost a hundred gangsters and thugs.

Grakkus had a formidable defense, but he had no way of expecting a sudden focused assault of a hundred gangsters led by a sith lord would be coming. Indeed, no logical attack would focus all their assets into one strike and leave all their other territories open.

It would be a poor plan for an ongoing campaign, but by the end of the night Maul planned to have this little war ended.

Grakkus the Hutt and his inner circle would be dead, and Maul would install Q'ra at its head and open new negotiations with the pykes from a seat of leverage.

Q'ra hadn't been so sure to begin, but she knew better to question Maul. And when he told her that Grakkus would be killed and they would succeed, his certainty convinced her. What's more, even she took note of the change of energy within Skywalker…she knew him briefly but she knew he had some of Maul's power and seeing him like that and directed towards Grakkus

"It will take me three hours to assemble all of our muscle."

"You have one."

"Yes, my lord." She bowed her head. "It will be done."

"Dedicate all other resources to scrambling Pyke communications." Maul said. "I do not wish for them to try and tip the balance, and when we speak with them next it will be from a position of power."

Q'ra had nodded, before turning on heel. She clapped her hands and proceeded to bark out orders to her attendants, who scrambled away to carry them out.

They came in, wave by wave, across the next hour. Foot-soldiers in service to The Crimson Dawn…either too old and stubborn to leave, or too young to find better prospects in the other gangs. A balanced mixture of various species…humans alongside devorans, rodians and aqualish, twi'leks and zabrak, one of them was even an ithorian.

It was not a formidable band, but somewhere in the middle they found a decent enough selection of gangsters. Killers, all of them, at least. And that was the only thing Maul expected them to do. Kill, and to die.

A little more than a hundred thugs, gangsters and mercenaries.

It wasn't much on the galactic scale, but for tonight it would be enough. If things were drawn out, if Grakkus could assemble all his forces let alone calling for aid from the other hutts on Nar Shaddaa…then things would quickly fall apart.

But Maul didn't plan on giving him that chance.

They would shift their focus all at once and thrust into the heart of Grakkus's territory, and with sith leading the charge they would be able to carve their way directly to his headquarters. Storming in and killing all inside, they would take control of his base of operations. The head would be cut off and they would be able to make a new deal with the pykes and position themselves in a more permanent position.

Tonight they would either succeed, or Maul would have to abandon The Crimson Dawn and take far longer than he would have liked building a dominance of the underworld, if not shifting focus completely. That would be undesirable, and he also counted on this as a means for Skywalker to commit to the dark path through the catalyst of passionate murder.

Maul had informed Q'ra of the plan, and Q'ra informed the various group-leaders. Everyone else looked to Skywalker, who Maul had told to take the lead.

"You have led units before." He said. "This is but one large unit."

"I have too much on my mind to worry about them."

"Then don't." Maul said sharply. "Focus on what's ahead of you, and they will follow in your wake. They will be your shadow, finishing off what you leave in your wake. You are power, Darth Starkiller, and they follow power."

Skywalker contemplated the words for a moment, then nodded.

"Yes, master."

They had all left shortly after, the groups ordered to follow Skywalker, and Maul loosely followed behind. It didn't take too long to navigate the smog filled streets to arrive at the open plaza in front of Grakkus's base.

Grakkus had scrambled together a defense, but the majority of his forces were on the offensive in Crimson Dawn territory. It would take them time to return, and all of The Crimson Dawn offensive focused in one assault was crushing the meager defenses. Even on their own, these gangsters were pushing forward, but with Skywalker leading from the front, deflecting blaster bolts and cutting down hutt gangsters there was no way they could fail.

The entrance of Grakkus's base was where the more practical barricades were, and stone walls for cover. Grakkus's forces had clearly been expecting this, knocking over stands and bringing over speeders to act as improvised cover to protect further past their immediate perimeter…but when the shooting started, there were still some in the plaza who were taken by surprise.

As the first gangsters on both sides were blasted and killed, there were ordinary urchins, smugglers and gamblers who knocked into each other trying to flee the plaza. The red of the blaster fire mingled with the low violets and greens of the neon…the colors fighting a war of their own reflected in the puddles of acid rain.

None were caught in the crossfire, but a protocol droid trying desperately to wobble as fast as it could between the blaster bolts and to safety was not so fortunate.

The crimson protocol droid's backplate exploded into a flurry of sparks as a blaster bolt hit it in the crossfire, and the robotic yell of surprise somehow overpowered the sounds of fighting. When the thermal detonator landed next to it and went off, its gasps were silenced by the deafening explosion as it fractured into a flurry of metal splinters.

Smoke filled the plaza after the explosion, and it provided cover for Skywalker as he charged past and ran towards the improvised cover behind it. Stunned, the gangsters were no match before his fury.

That flimsy barricade undefended, the Crimson Dawn forces rallied behind Skywalker as their charge gained a second burst of momentum and shot down the fleeing hutt stragglers. They got closer to the entrance of the base, and a few hutt foot-soldiers even managed to make it inside. Maul was suspicious why they'd give so much ground, but the charge continued.

When the automated turrets opened and began firing, the momentum ended.

Red plasma gattled from four massive weapons at a near automatic rate. It ripped into the front wave of gangsters, instantly tearing them apart. When their smoking corpses fell, the line behind them had just barely begun to dig in their heels. By the time they were dead, the others had begun to scatter and run to cover. More were caught in the blaster fire, but everyone else had dived behind crates, corpses or metal rubble.

With that, a third of their assault force was dead.

Skywalker had to be pushed into cover, overwhelmed by his dark momentum and adrenaline…the gangster who shoved him caught dead in the blaster fire. Maul could feel his apprentice's passion deflating as reality snapped back to him, and he stalked over to him crouched in cover.

"I will get the two on the right, you will take the two on the left." Maul said plainly, slowly pulling out his hilt from his walking stick.

"I…I don't know…" The boy said, eyes shifting from Maul to the onslaught of red plasma.

For the first time in the assault, Maul sensed his apprentice wavering. He clasped his hand tight around the boy's shoulder.

"You can do this, my apprentice." He said. "Every moment that passes makes defeat more likely. See how quickly these tools of our's fall apart? Only we can turn the tide. Command your men to charge again, the turrets will focus on them and it'll allow us to come from the sides. Allow The Dark Side to flow through you, clear yourself of anything but passion, and you will succeed."

Skywalker nodded.

"I can do this."

"Be fast, Darth Starkiller."

With that, Maul ran into the shadows and could hear his apprentice as he disappeared.

"Charge!" Skywalker shouted to a group of covered gangsters.

"Charge?" One of them asked. "But the turret-"

"I will take care of the turret! I said charge!" Skywalker said, igniting his lightsaber.

"Yes, my lord!" The gangster said, charging forward with a dozen others.

They tried to be tactical, Maul could tell as he ran up the sides of the plaza, but it was for naught. One almost immediately caught a blast in the chest, and another in the leg before falling into a flurry of blasts.

There were only two left by the time Maul and Skywalker got to the sides of the turrets. Maul leapt towards one, igniting his lightsaber. Swinging it down, he cut the barrel in a stroke. He arced the swing into a thrust, using the second blade to impale into the machine itself.

The top exploded, and the turret next to it was quick to react but Maul was quicker. He sprung forward, the speed and force of its blasts would be too great to try and deflect, and thrusted his lightsaber into the base of the turret before pulling it up and cutting it into melted halves.

Unfortunately, his apprentice was slower.

Maul looked over and saw one of the turrets smoking, but the other had turned to face Skywalker. It was too far for Maul, and if the boy fled they could regroup…and with one the charge could go forward…slowly, but forward. If...no, Skywalker did not move to flee.

The boy froze.

Its barrel was leveled at Skywalker and things seemed to move slowly as Maul rushed forward, flinging his own lightsaber into a throw. It would be too late, he knew, as the turret superheated its plasma within milliseconds…the boy was clearly reeling from destroying his first turret and his guard was completely open. He couldn't hope to even try and deflect it.

The shriek of the chambering blast echoed across the open plaza, and it heralded the boy's doom.

But Skywalker reacted.

With both his hands the boy had used his brief window to react to fling himself towards the blast. Maul felt The Dark Side ripple from him, in such an intense way he had felt only when he faced death….on Tatooine and the pyke freighters.

The durasteel barrel crumpled against the rush of The Force, and folded inwards as the blast began shooting. By the moment the exhaust rushed out to signal the blast shooting out, the barrel was little more than a metal clump. Blocking the blast, the turret exploded, its own intense plasma erupting within itself. Maul's lightsaber hit after it exploded, and ripped the heap apart a final time before he pulled it back.

Skywalker was knocked backwards, but sprang to his feet, Maul could feel a new rush of confidence and energy as the boy had new adrenaline fueling his faith in The Dark Side.

Maul clasped the boy on the back.

"Well done, my apprentice." He said. "I expected you to die."

"Not yet." Skywalker said. "Not until I kill Grakkus."

Maul smiled, turning off his lightsaber and putting it within his walking stick again.

Only one gangster survived the second charge unwounded, and he looked at Skywalker with wide eyes as he was pulled to his feet. The other gangsters poked out of their cover, uncertain of their safety and uneasy at the sound of silence after an intense storm of blasts.

"With me!" Skywalker shouted, waving his red lightsaber before pointing it towards the headquarters. "Grakkus dies tonight!"

The gangsters cheered and charged behind Skywalker.

The lobby was a quick and bloody shootout…an initial flurry of blaster bolts from both sides, then as the gap closed the thugs resorted to knives and fists…then came in Skywalker, cutting down any who stood in his way.

Just as quickly as the shooting began, it ended.

The only sound was sizzling, and Maul walked to his apprentice over the corpses. A large group of gangsters gathered around the boy, waiting for new instructions. Maul could see the respect and awe in their eyes.

"The hardest part is over." Skywalker said. "We're in. Take it slow, take it safe, don't be heroes. You can do this."

Skywalker almost headed off to join them as they rushed down into the halls, but Maul grabbed him by the arm.

"No." Maul said. "Their battles are beneath us. We go to kill Grakkus."

The boy looked into his yellow eyes, then to the halls the gangsters ran down as blaster fire began to echo, then back to Maul. He nodded, resolute, and followed his master.

It was clear why the others didn't take the turbolifts…they were locked, but it didn't stop the sith. Maul ignited his lightsaber and carved the doors open, and when they were in Skywalker took only a moment to fiddle with the wires inside the console to reactivate it.

They would take the turbolift to one of the highest floors…bypassing the vital command centers, armories and spice stores that would be the places of fighting and dispute. It would be the floor where Grakkus's office, meeting room and collection were…it would be where Maul expected to find the hutt, and where he would kill him.

The fight for the base would be difficult for these gangsters, but Maul knew Grakkus's main defenses had been placed outside. There would be deaths, but nothing like the killing field in the plaza.

It might even take hours, if some managed to seal off some of the floors, but they had numbers on their side, and once Maul and his apprentice were done with Grakkus they would join the fights below.

By tonight, it would be under their control and the greatest of the crime bosses on Nar Shaddaa would have fallen to Maul and The Crimson Dawn. There were other hutts, other territories, but Grakkus would be the platform that allowed them to launch against all the others. It would be war with the hutts either way…to kill one of their own without permission from The Kajidics…it was to bring down the entire wrath of the cartels. Maul would win or lose, and the war would begin on The Smuggler's Moon.

There would be more fighting, but if they could use such a small force to destroy Grakkus, the others would prove easy…and if they could negotiate a new deal with the pykes, to bring them against the hutts, it would all fall into place.

Nar Shaddaa would be theirs, and after that…

But for now, Maul refocused himself. The hum of the turbolift cleared his mind.

"Master." Skywalker said, fidgeting with his lightsaber. "...What happens after this?"

"Victory." Maul replied.

The turbolift opened.

The hall was long and draped in shadow, with neon light stretching from the high open ceilings above. Maul felt a presence ahead of them…three or four individuals. He let Skywalker take the lead, and he walked more slowly behind.

Grakkus's office was empty, and they continued down the hall to the meeting room where they had once settled on their shortly-lived alliance.

It was there they saw Grakkus's Gamemaster, the muscular human with a lightsaber at his hilt and shrouded in a hood, and a trio of gangsters flanking him.

"You two have stirred up enough trouble." The Gamemaster said, and the gangsters raised their pistols and rifles.

"We are here for Grakkus." Maul raised his voice across the room.

"You're not getting him." The man said.

"Give him up!" Skywalker said, taking a step forward, unstable anger bubbling in him.

The Dark Side had the boy in its grip, but he was young and not used to how…intoxicating it could be.

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get, kid." The Gamemaster said, taking his lightsaber off his belt and igniting it. "But by the looks of you, I know how to use one of these a lot better than you."

Skywalker looked to Maul, and he nodded to his apprentice. The boy charged forward, his own lightsaber ignited and raised.

He quickly cut down the gangsters, armed only with blasters…Skywalker deflected a bolt back into one before closing in and killing the other two. The boy turned from the dead gangsters and swung down his red lightsaber against The Gamemaster, but he raised his own green lightsaber against it.

Maul was surprised to see The Gamemaster deflect the opening attack with precision, and parry the second, knocking Skywalker back. The man's green blade hummed as he sliced it forward, almost catching the boy's head. With the brush so close with death, Skywalker took steps back and looked at his opponent with new eyes. Maul could sense what had been an explosion of hate now became a cooler, more subdued anger…with a touch of fear.

Before Maul could go to aid his apprentice, he heard a thrum and saw the darkness light with purple-and-blue as electro staffs activated. He ignited his lightsaber to block a strike whizzing from behind. He turned and saw one of Grakkus's refurbished magnaguards, and barely blocked in time to deflect a strike from another. When he twisted out of the way and held his back to the wall, Maul saw a total of four of the jedi-killing droids.

Two were in front of Maul, and two quickly flanked him from behind, separating him and his apprentice. There would be no avoiding the battle.

He slowly began circling his lightsaber in his grip and the magnaguards imitated it. At once, he sprang forward and thrusted his lightsaber towards one of the droids.

The magnaguard he thrusted towards was plated…it looked as if the chassis of a B2 Super Battle Droid had been modeled to fit and welded onto the magnaguard…scraps to fill the damaged gaps in the droid and act as a layer of armor. Maul realized as he closed in, that it didn't look like durasteel.

Maul almost lost his footing when he realized his lightsaber didn't immediately penetrate the metal, and the split-second of resistance caused him to stumble a step.

The brief opening allowed the plated-magnaguard to respond with a swing of its electrostaff, hitting Maul in the arm. He twisted away, only to get a jab in the side from another. Maul flinched, the shock running through his body as his muscles spasmed…another electrostaff came at him and he used the brief moment he had to channel The Dark Side and knock the magnaguards back … just enough to give him room to jump back and get in a better position.

It would be far too easy to be overwhelmed…one shock followed by another would be enough to keep him low until they incapacitated him outright. Maul underestimated the droids, he wouldn't be able to suffer even a single strike with them flanking him, each eager to strike. The four circled Maul, studying his footing, and Maul slowly spun his lightsaber in preparation. He looked to the plated-magnaguard that resisted his strike.

That chassis…it was no ordinary durasteel or other metal. The patch of armor glowed bright from the heat of the lightsaber, but it remained there as it cooled. It was no beskar, and would melt under the heat of a lightsaber but it lasted longer than most metals…even just for a few moments the resistance could throw a lightsaber wielder off balance and open them up to attack. Maul recognized what it was.

Cortosis.

There were too many of them to focus on wearing down its plating for now, so Maul would have to keep that one off-balance and far.

One thrusted its electrostaff at Maul, and he weaved to the side, and swatted the staff away. He used the deflection as a way to maneuver himself to put that droid in between him and the plated-magnaguard, and Maul heard the whizz of another electrostaff coming from behind.

He thrusted his lightsaber backward at an angle, using his off-blade to knock the thrust off. Maul spun again, deflecting a swing from the plated-magnaguard. Maul ducked under the swing and slashed the droid under its arm, a gap in the armor. Sparks exploded and Maul kicked the droid away, its companions quickly filling its place. They proceeded to slowly circle Maul again.

They studied him, but Maul also got a sense of how they fought. As a group they would circle him like prowling nexu, waiting to spot the most vulnerable opening. It would be there they struck first, and when their target was stunned or crippled they'd all attack at once.

He was more difficult to surprise though, as the way he positioned his double-bladed lightsaber allowed him to quickly respond to an attack from the front, rear or side. But perhaps it would be best for Maul to give them an opening…so he may strike them in surprise. Maul looked around, trying to find the weakest link. He spotted one, a magnaguard that had a replacement leg from a different droid model entirely…it appeared to be from a commando droid. It served it fine enough, but it was slightly shorter than its other leg…it's balance would be slightly off, and easier to stumble.

With that in mind, Maul gave his back to the droid, and slowly positioned his lightsaber forward…leaving his back open. The other droids backed up a step, and as predicted, Maul heard the shuffle of metal on stone and the whizz of an electrostaff. He twisted back, springing his lightsaber up to parry the thrust.

His lightsaber knocked aside the electrostaff, and the droid stumbled just a step with its misfit leg. But it was the opening Maul needed, and he spun his lightsaber up, using the off-blade to cut off its head.

The droid crumpled downwards, and Maul twisted to deflect an attack that came after. He did so, but was surprised when he felt a jolt of pain in his side. Looking to his side, the decapitated magnaguard was on its feet again. He gritted his teeth and focused on the pain, channeling it into anger as he pushed out with The Force.

The decapitated magnaguard launched against the wall and was knocked to the floor. It still moved, but it gave Maul enough time to turn and raise his lightsaber to deflect a strike from one magnaguard and swat away a thrust from another.

He saw the light of the staff illuminate the floor, and Maul knew to jump…narrowly avoiding a sweep from one behind him. The magnaguard was too slow to recover from the low attack and as Maul came down from the jump he swung his lightsaber down, catching the droid in the back.

It was cut in half, and as it began to scramble away Maul spun his lightsaber and impaled it, letting the metal melt around it as long as he could. When a swing came from another of the magnaguards, Maul lifted his lightsaber out to block it just in time.

The decapitated magnaguard was on him again, and Maul ducked and spun out of the way…it was still surprisingly capable but its movements were less precise. As he spun behind it, he kicked up his leg, knocking it off balance and into one of the magnaguards, causing them to stumble together.

A swing of the cortosis-plated magnaguard came and Maul reached out with The Force, flinging the destroyed and melted droid towards it. The smoking ruin caught the magnaguard just in time, and knocked it back. Maul was already rising as he flung it, and put his momentum into a thrust. Before the two magnaguards could untangle themselves from each other Maul's red lightsaber was impaled through the back of the decapitated droid and through the chest of the one behind it.

He held his lightsaber there, twisting it as the metal melted. When he saw the cortosis magnaguard charge towards him, he pulled up his lightsaber to cut through the two and twisted it, pulling up the off-blade to slice them apart from a different angle. Maul arced the lightsaber from the spin into a point towards the cortosis magnaguard, and thrusted to swat away the droid's own attack.

The other magnaguards lay melted and smoking, and it only left this final one…Maul felt more comfortable as he had room and time to deflect each attack and heard a shout from Skywalker in his own fight.

Maul looked towards his apprentice, and saw him struggling against The Gamemaster.

The green lightsaber of the man had seared against Skywalker's side, and the boy flinched but held himself firm and deflected the following attack and the one after that. The boy ducked from a high swing and gave a slice of his own…The Gamemaster just barely jumped back, and still got a smoking cut across his leg, though saved himself from losing it outright.

He swung his knee up, catching Skywalker in the chin…the boy fell back and recovered into a roll in time to deflect the next attack. Skywalker made an attack of his own, an eager flurry that The Gamemaster dodged or deflected. The boy locked lightsabers with the man and pushed his own red blade forward, turning it into a thrust towards his opponent's head…The Gamemaster tilted his head away but flinched as the lightsaber ran across the top of his shoulder.

The thrust caused Skywalker to overstep, and The Gamemaster twisted away and gave a shallow slash of green across the boy's side.

It seemed the man was not simply an ornament for Grakkus to display his collection….he was not only trained, but proficient in lightsaber combat.

Maul refocused himself on the magnaguard, he had trained Skywalker himself and needed to trust in what he taught him. The boy had not undergone as much training as Maul would have liked before setting him against another lightsaber-wielder in a true fight, but The Force tested beings when it saw fit. His apprentice would either overcome this trial, or prove himself too weak to hold the reigns of destiny.

It would take just moments for his lightsaber to melt through the cortosis if it wasn't reinforced, but the droid was quick and could easily strike at Maul in the brief time it took. No, the most difficult part was keeping it occupied or at a distance while he took down the others. Maul would use the next opening not to strike at it with his lightsaber, but the more certain method would be to crush it with The Force.

Until that opening, Maul would direct his entire focus to the duel, the droid was quick enough that even the slightest lapse in his attention might allow it to strike.

It swung low, and Maul jumped up. The droid raised the off-end of its electrostaff to block his downward slash, and Maul spun the other end of his lightsaber to cut into its side. The lightsaber caught some unplated metal but it quickly grazed along the cortosis, searing the metal but not cutting through as he twisted the crimson blade up to deflect a thrust.

Maul deflected it, and parried with a thrust of his own, catching the droid in the chest. It caught against the cortosis, and Maul held it there and pushed deeper…he could feel the metal giving way as the moments passed, but he had to jump back as the magnaguard swung its electrostaff back in a thwarting motion.

The droid's chest glowed white-hot as it leapt forward, swinging its electrostaff in a downward arc. Maul caught the electrostaff against his lightsaber and they locked weapons. He kicked the droid in the chest, its hot malleable plate knocking inwards and it stumbled, taking a moment to rebalance itself before thrusting again. The slightest of openings.

There.

Maul flushed all his attention from his mind, focusing on impulse…anger…the impulse was a heartbeat, and what was an ever present ember erupted into a flame and washed across Maul's body. He flung out his hand, letting that anger flow from him and twisting The Force the droid, and as he tightened his hand into a fist he molded The Force around his anger. It pulsed back at him, that cosmic quiver of pain.

The droid was crushed. The Force had pressed down against its cortosis shell, shattering its ceramic interiors, ripping apart its wired veins. It layed smoking, its head the only thing untouched.

The last magnaguard was destroyed. In the end, they had proved some small challenge for Maul but boasted little more than speed and numbers. Thinking of how many jedi fell to these droids, Maul smiled. What to Grakkus were rare artifacts, Maul proved them nothing but mere playthings.

He looked past the smoking and melted droids and saw Skywalker continue to fight The Gamemaster.

Maul held back and turned off his lightsaber, observing the duel.

The Gamemaster was a talented warrior, but it was clear his lightsaber training was informal…he swung it around like a deadblade, not utilizing the weapon to its unique potential. Indeed, Maul felt no touch of The Force upon the man, and so wouldn't provide much of a fight to Maul though he wouldn't be surprised if the man had killed any jedi exiles that Grakkus may have found in his fighting pits…assuming he wouldn't simply store them in a glass box in his collection.

But his apprentice still had trouble utilizing The Force while he was occupied, and his opponent wasn't giving him an opening to focus. To Skywalker's merit, at least, he was channeling his fear and anger and Maul could feel The Dark Side grow in him with each heartbeat.

The boy was struggling and had received a number of flesh wounds in the duel and one or two deeper injuries…but he had returned wounds of his own onto The Gamemaster. As the fight progressed, Skywalker grew more desperate but with his desperation his attacks became more powerful and he focused less on trying to maim the man and more on kill-strikes. The Gamemaster was beginning to struggle to continue dodging these fatal attacks.

Maul could intervene…but knew this fight to the death with a proficient lightsaber wielder would be a far better test of the boy's training.

The Gamemaster kicked Skywalker back, and the boy stumbled against the wall. When The Gamemaster swung down his lightsaber, Skywalker lifted his to block. The two's lightsabers were locked, and in raw physical strength The Gamemaster was overpowering the boy. He leaned back as much as he could, but before long he would have no room left and his defeat would come after. Skywalker looked down at the hilt of his lightsaber and flicked a switch next to the ignition.

His lightsaber retracted in length to half its length, retreating from The Gamemaster's green blade. Maul recognized it as one of the tweaks the boy had engineered into his weapon those months ago after tinkering with the mechanics of it.

Suddenly pushing his weight on nothing but air, The Gamemaster stumbled forward and Skywalker rolled forward and under his arm. Before the man could turn, the boy had swung up his red lightsaber into the meat of his shoulder. The Gamemaster cursed as Skywalker flicked his lightsaber back to full length, and the man turned to deflect the following attack just in time.

Sparks flashed as the power behind Skywalker's strike echoed across the room, and The Gamemaster flinched in pain as the strain pained his fresh wound. Another red flash landed down, and The Gamemaster was caught in a series of defenses each more desperate than the last.

Again and again Skywalker smashed his lightsaber against The Gamemaster, pushing him back until he had no further to go. The man's back hit the wall, and he looked back.

In a desperate move, he twisted from Skywalker's strike and thrusted his green lightsaber forward in an attempt to impale the boy.

But Skywalker impressed Maul, either his skills were honed more than he expected between Dathomir and this turf-war or his presence in The Dark Side allowed him the capacity….he saw the thrust incoming and spun his own lightsaber back into a lower arc. He spun away from the thrust and twisted his momentum into a swing.

The Gamemaster's flesh burned against the slice against his stomach, it had run deep, and he fell a moment later. Skywalker was not unscathed as he rose, the thrust had still caught him on the top of his shoulder, but he was alive.

Skywalker had faced off against a proficient lightsaber-wielder, and despite difficulty, killed him. He had not faced a true force-user, but Maul believed the man to have been a deadlier opponent than a mere magnaguard.

His opponent laid on the floor, and the magnaguards were destroyed. Maul looked around and saw no immediate sign of Grakkus. He held up his hand for his apprentice to stay there, and Maul walked up ahead further down the hall. If Grakkus was not within his office or meeting room, then perhaps he would be hidden away in his secure archive?

Maul arrived to those large doors and knocked them open with The Force.

He walked in and looked around, and again saw no sign of the hutt.

Maul glanced across the collection, all the secrets and treasures, and set his gaze on the sith holocron.

Part of him wanted to forget about everything else and tear into whatever power laid within. But there would be plenty of time for that, once Grakkus was dead.

There would still be some minor fighting, but soon the base would be theirs and Maul would feel secure in his possession of the archive.

He took a final measure of the archive and its secrets before reluctantly turning and heading back down the hall.

Maul stepped in front of Skywalker and the boy froze when he heard.

"Not here." He said coldly.

A dark anger coiled within Skywalker…to have battled so fiercely, and lost so many who followed him, and to win such a deadly duel? These were all wasted in his eyes, if Grakkus had escaped.

Bitter laughter filled the air and the two turned to see The Gamemaster, clutching his mortal wound. His hood had fallen, revealing his full weathered face.

"You fools." He spat. "Grakkus isn't here."

"We'll find him." Skywalker said.

"If they…don't get you first…"

"I don't think so." The boy said.

"Oh, you'll pay, kid." He wheezed and laughed.

"We do not fear the retribution of criminals." Maul said.

"Not from them…" He trailed off.

Maul leaned down.

"The Empire."

The word sent a chill down Maul.

"What?"

"I was…undercover. Meant to infiltrate the Hutt Cartels…but you ruined all that. A shame I never saw you with your lightsaber…I only got…the chance to tell them of the boy. When I…verified….it wasn't one of theirs…they told me to sit tight. They know…"

When the man muttered his last word Maul could not contain his anger, he didn't even lash out in The Force, he hurt him physically like an animal….smashing his boot against his throat, killing him. Sweat ran down his brow and Maul gestured for his apprentice to follow.

"Come." He said. "If Grakkus is not here he will be at his arena. There it will end."

Maul felt the confidence surge in his apprentice, but inside himself all he could feel was fear. The Gamemaster's last words kept echoing through his mind.

"The Empire knows."