And another!

Last time: Maul broke into the Jedi Temple.

Now: Sasha is missing.

Chapter 14- Maul's Threat

Nothing. She was gone. Hours they searched. Hours. Maul had somehow gotten into the Jedi Temple without anyone spotting him, kidnapped Sasha, and escaped without triggering the alarm of the lockdown. It was well into the middle of the night now as the temple was still on a high alert. Obi-Wan sat on a bench in the middle of the main corridor of the Jedi Temple, staring at Sasha's lightsaber in his hand. He had participated in the search for his padawan and he was nearly running himself ragged doing so that Mace had to tell him to go rest. But he couldn't rest, not until he found his padawan, despite his body's current state. He was exhausted. His body ached from his still healing injuries. And he felt a heavy weight weigh on him as he failed to protect his padawan from the monster that had taken so much from him already. And because of that, he couldn't even think about resting now.

The nightmare that had recently been plaguing his dreams at night where Maul killed Sasha instead of Satine was rushing through his mind at this very moment. He cringed as he tried to shake the nightmare away, but it wouldn't leave him alone. Seeing her covered in all those horrible injuries and the saber wound in her gut. Holding her as she died in his arms and hearing Maul's villainous laugh as it happened. All of it was becoming too real for him and it was making him feel physically sick. His stomach turned with serious unease as he feared for his padawan's life. He knew Sasha was strong and that she could easily handle herself. But this was Darth Maul. Not Dooku or Grievous. But Darth kriffing Maul. At least with those other two, he knew that she could handle the situation on her own until help arrived. But Maul? He shook at the mere thought of what that monster was going to do to her. What he is doing to her.

"Obi-Wan?" Anakin's voice filled his ears as the younger Jedi approached him, pulling him from his thoughts.

"Have they found anything?" Obi-Wan asked as he glanced up at him.

Anakin frowned at him as he came over and sat down next to Obi-Wan on the bench, looking just as tired. The younger man had been on a wild search for Maul all day without as much of a break. And after the break in and kidnapping at the Temple, he had continued to search. The relief of sitting down was evident in the sigh he released as sat next to him.

"No, they think he may have successfully made it off planet," he told him gently. "I'm sorry, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan looked back down at the lightsaber, downcast. "I should have been with her. I shouldn't have left her alone," he said absently. "I should have known Maul would try something like this. I should have been more prepared." He was definitely playing the blame game on himself, but he was in fact to blame for this. There was easy ways to have prevented this from happening, and yet they let their guard down just enough for it to still happen.

"Don't talk like that," Anakin said as he placed a hand on Obi-Wan's back. "You are not to blame here. Maul tricked all of us. Whatever he had planned, it worked. For now. But we won't let him win. And we will find her, Obi-Wan. We will stop Maul. You have my word."

Obi-Wan didn't say anything. He just lowered his chin to his chest and sat there dejectedly. As much as he wanted to believe Anakin, he felt a cloud of doubt shroud his heart as he sat there feeling the weight of his failure weigh heavier.

Sasha awoke to an uncomfortable strain in her arms. Slowly opening her eyes, she found herself restrained in an anti-gravity device in the center of a cell. Her arms were bound together at the wrists above her head, putting some serious strain on her arms and shoulders. Looking down she noticed her boots were missing and her legs were bound together at the ankles. Sasha had no idea how long she had been hanging there, but it felt like too long already. She tried to adjust herself in this position and winced as she felt that broken rib from before pull. She sucked in her breath as she waited for the wave of pain to pass. Once it passed, she relaxed in the restraints. That's when she took notice to her connection to the force being a blur. She couldn't sense her Master or anything else around her. It wasn't like she was cut off from it. More like a fuzzy signal on a communications line. She was most likely drugged with a force inhibitor of some kind, she had to guess. But what kind of force inhibitor did this, she did not know. After a moment, the cell door opened and Maul walked in, a droid cam following behind. She glanced at the droid in confusion before she glared at him as he was walked to her.

"I see you're awake," He said as he stopped before her, his hands behind him. "Comfortable?"

"Not exactly," Sasha said as she tried adjusting again, being cautious of her broken rib this time.

"Good," Maul said as he smirked at her discomfort. "I wouldn't want you to get comfortable. After all, you will be here for a while."

"Where the hell am I?" She asked him.

"Nowhere you need to worry about. At least not at the moment," Maul said simply. "You are my special guest."

Sasha glared at him. "What do you want with me?" She asked.

"What I want is Kenobi," Maul said as he slowly walked around her. "I want to see him dead. I want to see him suffer." He stopped right behind her. She cast a glance back to try and see what he was doing. She felt a hand wrap around her braid and tug her head back. Sasha gasped as she winced at that pain that came with one's hair being pulled. "And I'm going to use you to do it," He whispered into her ear before releasing her hair.

"What? Are you going to hold me for ransom?" Sasha asked with a slight hiss to her tone. "My Master won't fall from it. He won't give himself up so easily."

"Even if it means your life?" Maul asked as he started walking again.

"Yes," She said evenly.

"I doubt that," Maul said as he came to a stop before her with an unamused look on his face. "I have already taken so much from Kenobi. His Master. The Duchess." Sasha grimaced at that. He noticed. "I see. You cared for the Duchess too. Interesting. So you know how much it tore your Master apart, don't you?" She narrowed her eyes at him but didn't answer. "I watched as he held her dying in his arms. As he built up with rage for me. Oh, it was delightful." He laughed at that. "And when I heard he had escaped I still knew that I had won. That I had broken him. Then as fate would have it, another opportunity arises for me to continue to tear him down and make him suffer when I discovered he had you." He turned fully to face her.

Sasha swallowed as she felt a sense of fear settle inside her, but she didn't let that show. "What are you going to do?"

He smirked at her as he stepped forward, closing the distance between them and he grabbed her by the throat. She gasped as she felt him tighten his grip slightly. "I'm going to lure Kenobi here to try and rescue you. And when he arrives, I'll capture him and you will be nothing but a dying corpse. Don't worry. I will keep you alive, but just enough so you can witness as I bring about his end, once and for all," he said, his voice filled with malice. "And if you try and resist," suddenly she felt the emitter of a lightsaber press against her abdomen. Sasha tensed at that as the nightmare of Maul killing her flashed through her mind, "I'll end your life the same way I ended theirs." Maul then released her throat and dropped his lightsaber as he stepped back. He returned the saber to his belt and then produced a light whip from his belt. "Now, we need to get you ready for our call to your Master."

Maul activated the light whip and lashed out at Sasha. She bit back a yell as the whip lashed across her upper left thigh. He struck again. This time is connected with her right arm. He struck again and again. Adding a lash to her hip and her shoulder. He continued to lash at her with the light whip until finally a scream of agony burst from her lips.

"Master Kenobi, Skywalker," Mace's voice filled Obi-Wan's ears as he still sat on the bench, quietly talking with Anakin.

Both men looked up at the approaching Master as he came up to them with a grim look on his face. That made Obi-Wan's heart thud as he was unsure of what news Mace was bringing them.

"Any news, Master Windu?" Anakin asked before Obi-Wan opened his mouth to speak but reading his thoughts practically word for word.

"You two need to come see this," Mace said grimly as he then turned and headed in the direction of the communications center.

It wasn't good news. Obi-Wan knew that just based off of Mace's reaction. He swallowed. Obi-Wan and Anakin then exchanged a worried glance with each other before getting up to follow him. They silently followed the Jedi Master all the way to the communications center. When they arrived, they were surprised to see that only Jedi present in the room were Council members. Anakin was the only non-member there. All eyes seemed to turn to them as they entered. Together they descended the steps and approached the large holoprojector table in the middle of the room.

"What is it, Masters?" Obi-Wan asked, worriedly. "What have you found?"

"This came in a few moments ago," Plo Koon said, his arms folded across his chest. "From Maul."

Obi-Wan looked at the fellow Master, confused and worried as his heart thudded again. A moment later, a hologram of Maul appeared. He was standing before them with his hands clasped behind his back. And behind him was Sasha. Obi-Wan felt his breathing hitch and his heart stop beating as he noticed the state she was in. She was hanging limply from an anti-gravity restraint. Her hair was practically falling out of its braid. And her clothes were torn in several different places as something like a light whip had torn through them and wounded the skin underneath. And there were several other cuts on the exposed places on her body.

Then the recording played.

"Kenobi, I know you are listening," Maul started, his voice filled with malice. "I have taken your padawan right out from under your nose. That is a failure on your part, Master Jedi." He snickered at that. "And now, I have yet another person close to you in my clutches." He gestured to Sasha, who stirred in her chains. "If you ever want to see her again, you are to surrender yourself to me in the next twenty-four hours. If you don't, I will make sure you bare witness to her demise as I slowly take your padawan's life. Just like when you witnessed your Master and your precious Duchess die by my hand. Except, unlike like them, you have a chance to spare her life. Surrender and she will be kept alive. That is all you have to do Kenobi."

Obi-Wan felt his throat go dry as he watched the footage with something unnerving nagging at him as to what Maul would or might do. The nightmare then flashed through his mind again. Sasha slowly raised her head and glanced at Maul before looking the direction of the droid cam that was recording this. A look of determination was evident in her face, but her eyes showed fear. The same fear he realized he felt.

"Don't do it… Master," Sasha croaked out from behind Maul as she struggled in her restraints. "It's a trap! He'll kill you!"

Maul snarled as he moved to look at her, producing a light whip in the process. "Shut it, girl." He hissed as he lashed out at her with the whip. The lash slashed right across her chest.

Sasha yelped out in pain. Maul then struck again and again. Adding more injuries to her body in different locations than where the initial marks resided. Obi-Wan grimaced as he averted his gaze for a moment as he heard her screams of pain echo through the room. When he looked back, Sasha was leaning forward, her breathing ragged as she trembled in her chains. Maul glared back towards the camera.

"Twenty-four hours Kenobi," Maul growled. "Time is ticking."

The message then ended and hologram fizzled out. Obi-Wan stood there frozen for a moment, staring at the location Sasha had been just a moment again. Her cries of pain still ringing in his ear drums. He closed his eyes and slowly turned away from the table with one arm across his chest and the other methodically stroking his beard. There was an eerie and uncomfortable silence in the chamber after the message ended.

Maul stood there seething as he glared at the droid cam. Sasha couldn't see his face, but he could tell by how his back tensed that he was most likely pissed at her. As soon as his message was finished, Maul stood there, unmoving. She figured he was most likely trying to figure out how to end her life here and now, but she knew that he still needed her alive. He still needed her to get to her master. So even if it meant she was dealt more torture, she was willing to test him and bring on the back talk.

She chuckled lightly under her breath. Why she found this humorous, she would never know. She heard him growl.

He turned on his heel and faced Sasha, a scowl painted on his face. "You think this is funny?" He asked, venom in his voice.

"A little, I guess," Sasha admitted as a smirk appeared on her lips.

Maul back handed her across the face. Her head jerked to the side and she was seeing stars for a moment. She then tasted blood as she realized she bit the inside of her cheek. Sasha slowly turned her head to look at him, a glare in her gaze.

"I will not hesitate to kill you if you try anything like that again." Maul growled. "And don't you dare interrupt me like that again, girl," He spat as he punched her hard in the gut.

Sasha coughed, blood flying from her lips from the cut in her mouth, as she felt something inside her bruise at that. She was actually glad she hadn't eaten anything before she was taken as she as sure that hit would have caused her to throw it up right then and there. And mixing the taste of vomit with blood in her mouth would have been an awful combination. After a second, she composed herself and glared at Maul, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth.

"Never," She spat back at him.

"You are going to have wished you never defied me," Maul growled as he didn't use the light whip this time.

No, this time he summoned an electro staff from the wall nearby that she hadn't seen as the cell around her was in dim lighting compared to the light coming from the anti-gravity restraint she was in. He activated it and jabbed her in the gut with it. Sasha screamed in pain as bolts of electricity coursed through her veins. And he zapped her again and again.

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