A/N: Hello people.
This is a one shot short story that I made for a project in school. It may seem a little rushed but we only had 1200 words to work with so yeah. I don't know if I actually think this is what happened to Qi'ra after Solo but it's something. Enjoy! :)
Qi'ra stood in the main lounge of the First Light, determined not to disappoint Maul when she arrived on Dathomir. The ship rocked gently out of Hyperspace and into orbit above the red planet. She took a small amount of time to fix the ponytail that had come loose during the battle with Dryden, the knot in her stomach grew larger when she thought of her co-leader. It had been the right thing to do but it still didn't feel like it. The metal necklace holding the logo of Crimson Dawn felt heavier than usual.
She went over to the computer room to check the security footage, she'd be damned if Maul found out she had killed Dryden and not Solo as she had reported. Her fingers moved swiftly over the controls that opened the computer. She decrypted the security breach and all the footage from the day before appeared on the screens. She quickly edited the footage to match her story. It was harder than she would have expected but she eventually succeeded.
The gentle tap of boots sounded through the halls of Crimson Dawn's headquarters on Dathomir. Maul, former lord of the Sith, apprentice to Darth Sidious, now the leader of the crime organization Crimson Dawn and the larger Shadow Collective, sat in his office waiting for Qi'ra to hear her full report on what had happened at Savareen. A soft knock revealed her arrival at the office. He reached out with the Force and felt her insignificant presence.
"Come in," Maul's dark voice beamed in the otherwise silent environment and the door swished open, control panel gleaming green in the dim, red light of the planet. A bit of red fog followed Qi'ra as she stepped in, making her small form stand out.
"You wanted to see me directly when I landed," Qi'ra said, it wasn't a question; it was a statement which gave Maul the impression that she was too comfortable with being here, in front of him after her failure.
"You failed, the Coaxium is not in our hands. Enfys Nest is gone, several Wookies escaped our mines. Beckett, his entire crew, and Dryden are dead under mysterious circumstances. How did that happen I ask, and that leads me back to you, the only survivor," Maul barked at her, rage boiling through him and the Force. Although Qi'ra felt intimidated it wasn't something she would let Maul know, this was after all a power struggle she was after to win.
"As I said on Savareen. The person Beckett hired to get our Coaxium killed Dryden and Beckett himself before giving Enfys Nest the Coaxium. I had nothing to do with it, I wasn't even in the room when it happened," Qi'ra prayed to Corellia's seven hells that she sounded more confident in her lie than she felt. Maul studied her with his cyber eyes, the color of a Sith. Suddenly Qi'ra felt a pain in her head like someone broke her skull.
"Are you sure? Because when you started to work here you praised yourself on your lies, how easy it came to you," he growled. The pain didn't go away, it became worse and worse until silent tears made their way down her cheeks. She nodded as she tried to form words, an argument, but nothing came. Abruptly the pain went away and she became more clear-headed.
Something bleeped and Maul's attention was diverted away from her. He studied his holopad, the horns on his head cast menacing shadows on the wall behind him. Qi'ra just stood there, silent, not wanting to relive the pain, because she knew that Maul had caused it.
"Interesting," Maul mumbled which made Qi'ra uneasy. His gaze returned to her, this time more menacing than before. "Leave me. Do not take off from the planet's surface or there will be consequences," he continued, still fixating his eyes on her. She nodded and left the room without looking back.
This new report filled Maul with rage. Qi'ra had lied, after all, she was the one who had killed Dryden not the stupid boy who had been hired by Beckett. She had abused her position as the new sole leader on the outside of Crimson Dawn to edit the security footage. She had betrayed him after all the power he had given her. There was only one punishment for treachery, execution.
The swamp on Dathomir wasn't directly captivating but Qi'ra didn't really have anything else to do other than pacing around the planet, exploring the vast forests and swamps. Maul had ordered the direct grounding of the First Light so she had no way of leaving the planet surface, even for a short flight around the atmosphere.
She heard a faint splashing noise as a small mushling was squished under her foot. This swampy planet wasn't really what she had been expecting when she had been invited to Crimson Dawn's headquarters. She had expected something grand, something elegant. Not something dusty and dark on a remote planet with nothing but ancient relics and swamps, but it was Maul's home planet so it held some sort of significance. Slowly the sun Dormir set in the horizon making the already red sky brighter yet somehow darker. Qi'ra couldn't help but smile a little as two of Dathomir's four moons rose in front of the sun, spreading an ominous light. Every planet had its beauty and this one was gone in an instant.
After she had come back to the headquarters it was dark outside, the red fog, the four moons, and the strange terrain made the planet look vastly haunted and threatening. Something was off about this particular night, the air felt extremely hot and thick. She moved swiftly around the base into the room she had been given during her stay.
Unexpectedly Maul stepped out of the shadows, his double-bladed lightsaber handle at the ready. He looked truly terrifying, standing half-hidden in shadow, half glowing from the sinister light of the planet. Qi'ra held herself together as best as she could.
"What gives me the honor?" she asked rapidly Maul looked at her with glowing eyes and she knew at once what had gone wrong. He knew it was the only possible explanation for this sudden visit.
Without a word or a second thought, Maul ignited his lightsaber and the blade pierced Qi'ra's chest. Her face twisted in agony and her hands clasped the wound when Maul slowly drew the blade out. She whimpered softly and fell to the floor. Maul looked down at her, his red and black striped face lit up by the blade and his cyber yellow eyes illuminating the glow.
"This is what happens to people who fail or betray me," he growled at her. She looked up with painful eyes and let out one last breath. The game was over and Maul had won.