Disclaimer: Midori- mine, everything else- not mine
A/N: Very sorry it took me so long to update. Never thought I'd get so much homework in school.
-----
Chapter 5
The hum of ship engines continually grew louder. Midori leaned out from the Infiltrator's shadow to try and catch a glimpse of the search ship. The green Twi'lek was startled when Maul lowered the boarding ramp and stole onto it.
"Wait!" cried the girl, running after him. When she caught up to him, she grabbed the back of his baggy shirt and repeatedly tugged it.
"You can't! They're here to save me! If you kill them, I'll be stuck in this horrible, store-less place! I'll never be in Coruscant news again! I'll never be able to buy designer fashions again! I'll never set foot in a mall ever again! No more shopping sprees!" A distressed cry followed her complaints. Maul pulled his shirt from her grasp.
"Don't kill them!" she pleaded with big eyes.
"I'll do what I must," retorted the Sith, continuing his path down the hall.
"But what if you don't have to kill them? What if I can just board their ship and be taken back home?"
"If they've seen too much, they won't live long enough to contact Coruscant," he stated bluntly. He marched into the cockpit, Midori trailing at his heels rattling off different scenarios and "what ifs". On the console laid a wrist control pad studded with buttons. The Sith grabbed that and slapped it on over his dark glove, then started punching buttons on a nearby control panel. A small screen flashed on and a map of the area appeared, choked with numbers and pulsating circles.
"They've landed not too far from your ship. Being this close they had to have detected me." Instantly he turned and marched out, Midori following like a vulture.
"Does this mean you'll kill them?"
"Yes."
"But you don't have to kill them!" When Maul didn't stop, the green Twi'lek grabbed his sleeve and tried to pull him back. That didn't work and she ended up being dragged after him as he continued at the same pace. The girl was convinced she could stop him and still clung to the material.
"You don't need to kill anyone! Just sneak on board and steal all the records of them finding your ship. Then they won't have any evidence and I could still go home!" she exclaimed with extra enthusiasm. The Sith continued on his path to the boarding ramp, dragging Midori by his sleeve. He was surprised that she could come up with a plan like that, because it actually sounded logical. Darth Maul had been set on killing someone, and he still wanted to kill someone, however the Twi'lek's suggestion was more challenging. He slowed his pace, considering. When he finally realized she was still clinging to him, he wrenched his sleeve from her grasp again.
"Stop touching me!" he ordered, glaring at her hatefully. Midori didn't even noticed the look he gave her. She trailed after him as he reached the cargo hold.
"So what do you think about my idea?" the girl asked as the Sith somehow found the speeder bike out of the rest of the machines in the room.
"It's an idea," the reply was grunted.
"Okay, what if-" Suddenly Maul spun around, his eyes blazing.
"No! No more 'what ifs'! What could happen doesn't matter! Only what will happen! And you will never have any influence on my plans." The last part of his sentence came as a threatening hiss.
"But it's always good to be prepared," the Twi'lek protested meekly, shrugging up her shoulders as if she could hide. Maul held out his hand and from somewhere in the room a long black cloak came flying into his grip. He threw it around himself and mounted the speeder.
"Wait, you're going now?" questioned Midori. She still had many reasons to argue why the crew should be spared. The Sith just started the bike, knowing her stupid question didn't even deserve a verbal response.
"But wait!" she shouted over the noise of the vehicle, "What if they-" Maul's gaze alone would have made her stop talking, but her voice ceased because she suddenly felt something around her neck. An invisible force had grasped her neck and was slowly and steadily tightening. The whole time the Sith was glaring at her with intense concentration. When Midori began to make choking noises, he decided she had suffered enough and released his hold on her. She dropped to the metal floor, coughing and holding her neck while Maul punched in a sequence of numbers on his wrist pad. A hum came from across the room as two spherical, black droids floated over to the Sith. After another code of numbers to the control pad, the droids turned and closed in on Midori. The green skinned girl started a little at the sight of them and involuntarily scooted backwards.
"What are those?!" she cried, lekku wriggling.
"They are what will make sure you don't leave the ship," replied Maul slowly, taking pleasure in her fear. Then he speeder bolted from the cargo hold with a loud whine, leaving the Twi'lek to stare, petrified, at the two hovering droids.
Darth Maul zipped around trees at an incredible speed, his Sith reflexes the only thing keeping him from a fiery collision. The wind roared past him, whipping around his cloak and stinging his face, but he didn't feel the pain. He was taught to ignore pain, and he succeeded quite well at that. Through the years of training his tolerance exceeded greatly, and now something that hurt the average man didn't bother Maul.
A twist of his hand and the bike gave a higher hum as it accelerated. He had to reach that search ship as quickly as possible to make sure they didn't alert any other nearby vessels of the Infiltrator. The Sith knew if the crew searched the Orin 1, they'd find no trace of him. The bodies of the guards, and especially Zell and the pilot with the telltale saber wounds, were dragged off by now and devoured by some larger animal. Even the three creatures he had killed inside the ship would be gone and another beast would be lurking in the shadows of some room. Whoever explored the Orin 1 would be in for quite a surprise.
He slowed the speeder once he could faintly see the ship beyond the thick trees. Before reaching the edge of the forest he turned the motor off completely. The last thing the Sith wanted to do was announce his presence. At least not at first. With lightsaber in hand, he stealthily made his way toward the ship's entrance.
-----
Midori eyed the two hovering droids uneasily. Except for the low humming sounds coming from them, they were ominously silent. Her lekku twitched nervously. The Twi'lek looked around the sizable cargo hold. There were many other mechanical things, all of which the girl couldn't even begin to imagine what they were for. Of course, her imagination was something she didn't use much. As she sat there, her back against a tall, flat, metal object, an idea came to her. Darth Maul had said the droids wouldn't let her leave the ship, but they wouldn't prevent her from exploring the rest of it, would they? The two had been so still for so long Midori wondered if they were even awake. Slowly the green Twi'lek rose to her feet and the droids rose with her, hovering at shoulder level the whole time. Yes, they were definitely awake. Quickly they both flew to the side of her to block her way to the ramp. Midori was fine with that for it gave her more room to slink away form them. With every step she took, they advanced, always staying a certain proximity away from her. Once out of the cargo hold, the droids drifted further away, giving her more space. Soon she forgot about them entirely as she began to tour the ship.
-----
Darth Maul slipped behind a stack of crates as a group of crewmen hurried past and toward the boarding ramp. The Sith blended in with the shadows so well it was almost as if he were invisible. Once he was sure they were gone, he stole down the corridor. Maul sensed only a few more life forms on the ship, an easy task to avoid them all.
He stopped before an open door when he heard voices coming from inside. The Sith stood against the wall, leaning as close as possible to the doorway.
"Another ship?" a voice questioned.
"Yes, sir. It's near Zell's ship. A group was sent to inspect the Orin 1, and when that's completed, they'll go search the new ship. It may have been the reason Zell crashed landed," a woman's voice replied.
Well, so much for Midori's plan.
Maul slipped past the doorway, not even making a sound, and continued on his way down the corridor. A minute later, after peering into every room he came across, he finally found the communications room. Quickly the Sith checked the transmission logs to see if the crew had alerted other nearby search ships of the Infiltrator. The screen came back showing the last communication had been sent to Coruscant before they had landed. His gloved fingers flew over the console, bringing up the message.
"We believe we've picked up the Orin 1's signature on Endor. We're going to investigate. You will be updated once we find out for certain. C.S.S. Gamma out."
Good. No one else knew yet. Suddenly he heard footsteps behind him followed by a gasp. He hadn't even heard the crewman approaching over the sound of the recorded transmission. He cursed himself for letting his guard down.
"Who are you?!" a woman's voice shouted. She was probably the same one he overheard only a little bit ago. Maul still stood hunched over the control panel with his back to the door. The next thing he heard was the sound of choking. Only when she dropped to the floor did he turn around. The Sith knew he couldn't let this ship or its crew leave. They all knew far too much. Too bad they weren't all as stupid as Midori.
Darth Maul walked back down the corridor, heading for the boarding ramp, taking extra care to make sure he knew where the rest of the crew was. He walked unhindered right off the ship and to his speeder bike. Behind the seat was a pack full of various devices, of which he took a few detonators. The Sith returned with those to the ship. He suddenly stopped before reaching the main corridor. Further down the hall was a commotion of voices. The rest of the crew had found the body. From the jumbled of voices, one rose above the rest: "Go get help!" Footsteps echoed off the walls, drawing nearer to Maul.
Of course the Sith couldn't have that. He was going to blow up the ship now and hunt down the remaining crew members later. The man running down the corridor suddenly slowed down and dropped to his knees, frantically grasping at his neck. Maul almost smirked. This was too easy. He resumed his march down the hall, stepping over the man's body. The four remaining crewmen instantly became aware of him. They all drew their blasters and aimed at the approaching cloaked figure. He held out his hand as they fired. Whether he absorbed the lasers right into his palm or deflected them completely, they couldn't tell. They just knew he wasn't stopped, so they fired again. Maul waved his extended hand to the side and all the men went flying down the hall. The Sith walked into the communications room and set a detonator on the transmission console. Even if parts of the ship would survive the explosion, he made sure the computer logs wouldn't be one of them. It took him a few minutes to place the remaining detonators, because he had to hunt for the most crucial spots.
Darth Maul returned to his speeder bike, took a remote from the pack, and mounted the vehicle. As he flew away from the ship, he pressed a button on the remote and, in reply, multiple explosions came from the ship. Now all he had to do was visit the Orin 1 and hunt the rest of the crewmen. After that he could return to his own ship, repair it, and finally leave Endor and that annoying Twi'lek.
If only he knew what was awaiting him back at his ship...
A/N: Very sorry it took me so long to update. Never thought I'd get so much homework in school.
-----
Chapter 5
The hum of ship engines continually grew louder. Midori leaned out from the Infiltrator's shadow to try and catch a glimpse of the search ship. The green Twi'lek was startled when Maul lowered the boarding ramp and stole onto it.
"Wait!" cried the girl, running after him. When she caught up to him, she grabbed the back of his baggy shirt and repeatedly tugged it.
"You can't! They're here to save me! If you kill them, I'll be stuck in this horrible, store-less place! I'll never be in Coruscant news again! I'll never be able to buy designer fashions again! I'll never set foot in a mall ever again! No more shopping sprees!" A distressed cry followed her complaints. Maul pulled his shirt from her grasp.
"Don't kill them!" she pleaded with big eyes.
"I'll do what I must," retorted the Sith, continuing his path down the hall.
"But what if you don't have to kill them? What if I can just board their ship and be taken back home?"
"If they've seen too much, they won't live long enough to contact Coruscant," he stated bluntly. He marched into the cockpit, Midori trailing at his heels rattling off different scenarios and "what ifs". On the console laid a wrist control pad studded with buttons. The Sith grabbed that and slapped it on over his dark glove, then started punching buttons on a nearby control panel. A small screen flashed on and a map of the area appeared, choked with numbers and pulsating circles.
"They've landed not too far from your ship. Being this close they had to have detected me." Instantly he turned and marched out, Midori following like a vulture.
"Does this mean you'll kill them?"
"Yes."
"But you don't have to kill them!" When Maul didn't stop, the green Twi'lek grabbed his sleeve and tried to pull him back. That didn't work and she ended up being dragged after him as he continued at the same pace. The girl was convinced she could stop him and still clung to the material.
"You don't need to kill anyone! Just sneak on board and steal all the records of them finding your ship. Then they won't have any evidence and I could still go home!" she exclaimed with extra enthusiasm. The Sith continued on his path to the boarding ramp, dragging Midori by his sleeve. He was surprised that she could come up with a plan like that, because it actually sounded logical. Darth Maul had been set on killing someone, and he still wanted to kill someone, however the Twi'lek's suggestion was more challenging. He slowed his pace, considering. When he finally realized she was still clinging to him, he wrenched his sleeve from her grasp again.
"Stop touching me!" he ordered, glaring at her hatefully. Midori didn't even noticed the look he gave her. She trailed after him as he reached the cargo hold.
"So what do you think about my idea?" the girl asked as the Sith somehow found the speeder bike out of the rest of the machines in the room.
"It's an idea," the reply was grunted.
"Okay, what if-" Suddenly Maul spun around, his eyes blazing.
"No! No more 'what ifs'! What could happen doesn't matter! Only what will happen! And you will never have any influence on my plans." The last part of his sentence came as a threatening hiss.
"But it's always good to be prepared," the Twi'lek protested meekly, shrugging up her shoulders as if she could hide. Maul held out his hand and from somewhere in the room a long black cloak came flying into his grip. He threw it around himself and mounted the speeder.
"Wait, you're going now?" questioned Midori. She still had many reasons to argue why the crew should be spared. The Sith just started the bike, knowing her stupid question didn't even deserve a verbal response.
"But wait!" she shouted over the noise of the vehicle, "What if they-" Maul's gaze alone would have made her stop talking, but her voice ceased because she suddenly felt something around her neck. An invisible force had grasped her neck and was slowly and steadily tightening. The whole time the Sith was glaring at her with intense concentration. When Midori began to make choking noises, he decided she had suffered enough and released his hold on her. She dropped to the metal floor, coughing and holding her neck while Maul punched in a sequence of numbers on his wrist pad. A hum came from across the room as two spherical, black droids floated over to the Sith. After another code of numbers to the control pad, the droids turned and closed in on Midori. The green skinned girl started a little at the sight of them and involuntarily scooted backwards.
"What are those?!" she cried, lekku wriggling.
"They are what will make sure you don't leave the ship," replied Maul slowly, taking pleasure in her fear. Then he speeder bolted from the cargo hold with a loud whine, leaving the Twi'lek to stare, petrified, at the two hovering droids.
Darth Maul zipped around trees at an incredible speed, his Sith reflexes the only thing keeping him from a fiery collision. The wind roared past him, whipping around his cloak and stinging his face, but he didn't feel the pain. He was taught to ignore pain, and he succeeded quite well at that. Through the years of training his tolerance exceeded greatly, and now something that hurt the average man didn't bother Maul.
A twist of his hand and the bike gave a higher hum as it accelerated. He had to reach that search ship as quickly as possible to make sure they didn't alert any other nearby vessels of the Infiltrator. The Sith knew if the crew searched the Orin 1, they'd find no trace of him. The bodies of the guards, and especially Zell and the pilot with the telltale saber wounds, were dragged off by now and devoured by some larger animal. Even the three creatures he had killed inside the ship would be gone and another beast would be lurking in the shadows of some room. Whoever explored the Orin 1 would be in for quite a surprise.
He slowed the speeder once he could faintly see the ship beyond the thick trees. Before reaching the edge of the forest he turned the motor off completely. The last thing the Sith wanted to do was announce his presence. At least not at first. With lightsaber in hand, he stealthily made his way toward the ship's entrance.
-----
Midori eyed the two hovering droids uneasily. Except for the low humming sounds coming from them, they were ominously silent. Her lekku twitched nervously. The Twi'lek looked around the sizable cargo hold. There were many other mechanical things, all of which the girl couldn't even begin to imagine what they were for. Of course, her imagination was something she didn't use much. As she sat there, her back against a tall, flat, metal object, an idea came to her. Darth Maul had said the droids wouldn't let her leave the ship, but they wouldn't prevent her from exploring the rest of it, would they? The two had been so still for so long Midori wondered if they were even awake. Slowly the green Twi'lek rose to her feet and the droids rose with her, hovering at shoulder level the whole time. Yes, they were definitely awake. Quickly they both flew to the side of her to block her way to the ramp. Midori was fine with that for it gave her more room to slink away form them. With every step she took, they advanced, always staying a certain proximity away from her. Once out of the cargo hold, the droids drifted further away, giving her more space. Soon she forgot about them entirely as she began to tour the ship.
-----
Darth Maul slipped behind a stack of crates as a group of crewmen hurried past and toward the boarding ramp. The Sith blended in with the shadows so well it was almost as if he were invisible. Once he was sure they were gone, he stole down the corridor. Maul sensed only a few more life forms on the ship, an easy task to avoid them all.
He stopped before an open door when he heard voices coming from inside. The Sith stood against the wall, leaning as close as possible to the doorway.
"Another ship?" a voice questioned.
"Yes, sir. It's near Zell's ship. A group was sent to inspect the Orin 1, and when that's completed, they'll go search the new ship. It may have been the reason Zell crashed landed," a woman's voice replied.
Well, so much for Midori's plan.
Maul slipped past the doorway, not even making a sound, and continued on his way down the corridor. A minute later, after peering into every room he came across, he finally found the communications room. Quickly the Sith checked the transmission logs to see if the crew had alerted other nearby search ships of the Infiltrator. The screen came back showing the last communication had been sent to Coruscant before they had landed. His gloved fingers flew over the console, bringing up the message.
"We believe we've picked up the Orin 1's signature on Endor. We're going to investigate. You will be updated once we find out for certain. C.S.S. Gamma out."
Good. No one else knew yet. Suddenly he heard footsteps behind him followed by a gasp. He hadn't even heard the crewman approaching over the sound of the recorded transmission. He cursed himself for letting his guard down.
"Who are you?!" a woman's voice shouted. She was probably the same one he overheard only a little bit ago. Maul still stood hunched over the control panel with his back to the door. The next thing he heard was the sound of choking. Only when she dropped to the floor did he turn around. The Sith knew he couldn't let this ship or its crew leave. They all knew far too much. Too bad they weren't all as stupid as Midori.
Darth Maul walked back down the corridor, heading for the boarding ramp, taking extra care to make sure he knew where the rest of the crew was. He walked unhindered right off the ship and to his speeder bike. Behind the seat was a pack full of various devices, of which he took a few detonators. The Sith returned with those to the ship. He suddenly stopped before reaching the main corridor. Further down the hall was a commotion of voices. The rest of the crew had found the body. From the jumbled of voices, one rose above the rest: "Go get help!" Footsteps echoed off the walls, drawing nearer to Maul.
Of course the Sith couldn't have that. He was going to blow up the ship now and hunt down the remaining crew members later. The man running down the corridor suddenly slowed down and dropped to his knees, frantically grasping at his neck. Maul almost smirked. This was too easy. He resumed his march down the hall, stepping over the man's body. The four remaining crewmen instantly became aware of him. They all drew their blasters and aimed at the approaching cloaked figure. He held out his hand as they fired. Whether he absorbed the lasers right into his palm or deflected them completely, they couldn't tell. They just knew he wasn't stopped, so they fired again. Maul waved his extended hand to the side and all the men went flying down the hall. The Sith walked into the communications room and set a detonator on the transmission console. Even if parts of the ship would survive the explosion, he made sure the computer logs wouldn't be one of them. It took him a few minutes to place the remaining detonators, because he had to hunt for the most crucial spots.
Darth Maul returned to his speeder bike, took a remote from the pack, and mounted the vehicle. As he flew away from the ship, he pressed a button on the remote and, in reply, multiple explosions came from the ship. Now all he had to do was visit the Orin 1 and hunt the rest of the crewmen. After that he could return to his own ship, repair it, and finally leave Endor and that annoying Twi'lek.
If only he knew what was awaiting him back at his ship...