AN: This chapter is the first of a short story-arc that'll cover a more condensed and simplified version of the Shadow Hunter novel. It also includes a character (and dialogue) from the Age of Republic comic, and a character from the Jedi Quest series.

I will protect you from all around you,

I will be here, don't you cry

– "You'll Be in My Heart", Phil Collins

"Did you get it?"

"Yeah." Zek Peiro removed the Holocron from his pocket, though he made no move to hand it over. "But first, I wanna see my credits. The last Neimoidian I worked for tried to con me out of my pay, and it didn't end well for him. If you know what I mean."

The Neimoidian, Hath Monchar, waved his hand. There was another Neimoidian standing to his right (whose name Zek couldn't be bothered to learn), and he brought forwards a briefcase. He set the case down on the Neimoidian's desk and opened it, revealing half a million unmarked credits.

Satisfied, Zek placed the Holocron on the desk beside it. "Will that be all, Mr. Monchar?"

"Yes, yes. You can go now." Monchar snatched up the Holocron and waved him away, not even sparing him a second glance.

Zek closed the briefcase and left, wanting to get as far away as possible from the object he'd been hired to steal. It was doing things to his head; whispering things and heightening his senses to the darkness that surrounded him. He didn't expect anything else from a relic of the Jedi, but it still unnerved him.

There were pros and cons to Zek Peiro's line of work. On the one hand, it paid well, since most of his clients were crime bosses, cartels or businessmen who could afford to hire the best of the best. But on the other hand, dealing with these top-siders showed him the sort of people who were running not just Coruscant, but the galaxy as a whole. There was a small part of him that was tempted to go straight to the Jedi and rat them all out, but then he would lose his best customers and then where would he be?

Once he'd left the building, Zek hopped onto his speeder and immediately retreated down into the lower levels. There was way too much sunlight up top for his tastes. But as he retreated downwards, he couldn't help but go against his business mantra of "ask no questions" and wonder why the Neimoidian was willing to pay so much for such a small, insignificant thing. Sure, it was a Jedi relic, but it wasn't even located in the Temple. The only time people paid him that much money was when the job was extremely dangerous.

He hoped that wasn't the case, and that he hadn't just angered the wrong people.

"Mama! Da! Up! Up! Up!"

Maul opened his eyes to find Kassandra squished in between him and Eldra. Her cuddly wolf was tucked under her arm, and she was playing with her mother's headtails, giggling. He watched her, amused. "This isn't your bed, little pup."

"But not Mama's bed," his daughter pointed out. "Why Mama here?"

"Because your Da wanted to cuddle." Eldra turned over, just as amused by their daughter's presence. She then sent Maul a warning look, telling him not to mention why she was actually in his bed.

"Yes." He nodded, figuring that what she said was sort of accurate. There had certainly been some cuddling at the end of it. "Cuddle."

"Cuddles! I wanna cuddle!" Kassandra pounced on Maul, and he rolled onto his back from the momentum.

He chuckled and stroked the back of his pup's head. She was growing so fast; her patterned lekku were already past her shoulders, and though her horns were still blunt, they were getting bigger. The resemblance to her mother was uncanny, while her dual heartbeats were a constant reminder that she had come from him, too.

Maul wanted the moment to last forever. But, in what was becoming more and more frequent, his master interrupted.

The commlink on his bedside cabinet started beeping, and Maul tried not to let his anger show in front of his daughter. That would come later on his mission, when he would draw power from his anger at being kept away from his family, when he knew he had limited time with them and every second mattered.

He shared a look with Eldra, who only nodded and turned back to Kassandra. "Come on, you little Tooka."

"No Tooka! Wolf! Grrrrrr!" Their daughter leapt from Maul to Eldra, making claws with her hands and playfully baring her teeth. Eldra scooped her up and blew a raspberry into the side of her neck, making Kassandra squeal. With the little girl distracted, Eldra was able to transport her out of the room and away from her father without any fuss. She sent Maul a smile over her shoulder before disappearing out of the room.

It filled him with a feeling of warmth, carried over from the night before. He was more certain than ever of making a suggestion he'd been contemplating for months: to let Kassandra have her own room while Eldra shared his. The thought of having her with him every night was one he was desperate to make a reality, and after what had happened the previous night, he was hopeful that Eldra would agree.

The temptation to stay and be with his family instead of going to the meeting was as strong as ever, but he knew he had to ignore it. Any mistake he made would give Sidious an excuse to take Kassandra away earlier than promised.

When he was dressed, Maul made his way into the main apartment area. Eldra was sat with Kassandra on the floor; she was helping their daughter use the Force to lift building blocks again, but instead of creating a singular tower, they were building a castle. Kassandra's tongue was sticking out, her face set in concentration.

Eldra caught Maul's gaze from across the room. She gave him a look that showed she still disapproved of his continued loyalty to Sidious, before turning her attention back to their daughter.

Maul pushed his conflicting feelings away as he left the building.

He met with his master in the Works, and fought to supress his fear of what would be asked of him. There was still another year to go before the blockade and subsequent invasion of Naboo, meaning he still had another year before Sidious would want to take over Kassandra's training. But there was always the chance that his master had changed his mind…

"You summoned me, Master?" Maul knelt before the shadowy figure.

"Our plans are under threat of being discovered," said Sidious. "The Holocron that you are using to record the child's progress has been stolen."

The fear that struck Maul was more painful than if he had been struck by his master's Force lightning.

Only a Force-wielder could open a Holocron. If it made it into the hands of the Jedi, then they would open it and see Kassandra, and recognise her as Eldra's child, and they'd come and they'd take them from him…

A nearby window shattered under the power of his rage.

"I will make them pay, Master."

"Good," said Sidious. "The discovery of this child would lead to the Jedi discovering us, too. This cannot be allowed to happen. You will find this thief, eliminate them and retrieve the Holocron. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Master."

Maul hurried out of the hanger and set off on his speeder immediately. It took him several minutes to realise that he had no idea where he was going, nor did he know where to start looking. His anger was clouding his vision; all he could think about was Eldra and Kassandra, and stopping the Jedi from taking them.

He shook his head and tried to think rationally. How could Sidious have let this happen? The Sith's existence was a closely-guarded secret that had been kept for over a thousand years, and his master was much too powerful to have slipped up so easily.

His rage nearly blinded him again. It was a test, he realised. Sidious had let someone steal the Holocron to test his mettle. His family had been intentionally put at risk of being discovered, for a test.

He wanted to rage and scream, but there was nothing he could do. The only option was to find this thief and retrieve the Holocron before a Jedi got a hold of it.

Thinking harder, Maul realised that even if Sidious had let this happen, he wouldn't have made it easy. And Maul could only think of one thief in the Coruscant underworld who could pull something like this off.

The sense of foreboding surrounded Zek as he approached the shadowy figure. It was a feeling he felt often when dealing with new clients, and it wasn't surprising given the shady deals and blood on their hands.

"You from the Kaitis Cartel?"

The figure nodded. He was dressed in all black robes and wore some kind of subspace mask that covered his entire face. "Yes."

Zek leaned against the wall, keeping his distance. Either the figure was using the shadows to try and look intimidating, or he really was someone who no one should mess with. Zek was betting on the former; he could sense that the man was young, a lot younger than himself. Probably some hotshot wanting to make it big. The mask was a dead giveaway.

"This your first job working for them?" he asked.

"Yes."

A joke about that being the only word he could say was on the tip of Zek's tongue, but he held off. "Shame. I hate working with amateurs."

The man's fist clenched. "Do as you are asked, and I will make it worth your while." He turned and walked further down into one of the back alleys.

Ignoring how his usually reliable senses had gone strangely quiet, Zek followed him. And not liking the silence, he started talking. "Your bosses are a new name around here, but the inroads they've made on the lower levels in such a short time is impressive. They play their hand right, they'll be a real power here in a couple of years."

Suddenly he couldn't breathe and was being lifted off the ground.

As he tried desperately to grasp at the invisible hand around his throat, he looked ahead at the man who had hired him. Only, he had removed his mask, and stepped out of the shadows into the light of the streets.

And Zek Peiro found himself staring into the yellow eyes of what he could only describe as a demon.

Maul had heard stories about Zek Peiro, Thief for Hire.

He'd first heard the name while gathering connections in the underworld of Coruscant, trying to build alliances like his master had done on the upper levels. At first, he'd thought that this Human's unmatched skills were overblown, until he saw the young man in action and realised that they were a product of something else.

The Force had moved around him; connected with him. Peiro's grasp of it was clumsy, thanks to lack of training, but it was there. He let it guide him to safes and stashes, hidden where no one else would think to look. When he'd first seen the display, Maul had been tempted to kill him in order to sate his bloodlust. The man was no Jedi, but he could have been one, had he been discovered.

Instead Maul thought of Eldra, and held off. Someone with his skill could be useful.

He'd recently had the fleeting idea of using Zek to smuggle Kassandra and Eldra somewhere safe; somewhere far away from Sidious. But the notion had been brief. To ask another for help would suggest that he wasn't strong enough to protect his own family, not to mention he was terrified of how his master would react if he was caught. And he could think of no place in the galaxy that would be safe for them – except for the Jedi Order, and the thought of Eldra and Kassandra going anywhere near them made his blood boil.

But it didn't matter, anyway. This man had stolen the Holocron, of that Maul was certain. And in doing so, he had jeopardised the safety of Eldra and Kassandra. It was a mistake he would soon regret.

"You will answer my questions or suffer," he snarled at the man levitating before him. "Who hired you to steal the Holocron?"

For a moment it looked as though Zek wasn't going to answer him, but Maul applied a tighter grip on his throat and the man's eyes widened in panic. He started talking, only the babble was hard to discern, thanks to Maul choking the life out of him. Rolling his eyes, Maul let go and let the Human drop to the ground.

Zek coughed repeatedly and rubbed at his throat, before speaking again. "Hath Monchar. One of those Trade Federation lackeys. He paid me big to steal that thing. Don't know why; I'm just the delivery boy. You wanna beef with someone, you go take it up with him and leave me out of it."

The man leaned against the wall again and breathed deeply, like he'd only just realised how he'd taken the action for granted his whole life.

Maul waited until he wasn't looking, then used the Force to pick up a shard of metal. He couldn't use his lightsaber; even on the lower levels, that sort of wound would draw too much attention. Especially from the Jedi.

He'd already risked that by using Eldra's name. It was a big galaxy; there must be more than one family with the name 'Kaitis'. But there'd always been a chance that the Jedi would hear the name and investigate on the off chance it was connected to the Padawan they thought lost. Maul had used it anyway. It felt right somehow. And the Jedi hadn't come looking, so he knew the Force was with him.

Zek didn't see the shard until it was too late. Maul drove it into his heart, killing him painfully and instantly.

As he walked away, Maul contemplated his next move. His master had formed an alliance with the Neimoidians of the Trade Federation, and he wondered if this Hath Monchar had betrayed his brethren or had stolen the Holocron on his master's orders.

Not that it mattered. He was a dead man either way.

"All I'm saying is, I didn't think you liked working with Neimoidians." Lorn Pavan kept a steady pace so that his much smaller companion could keep up. "For them it's 'business this' and 'business that', less 'we bring the galaxy together through trade' and more 'if we get rid of slave labour then our profit margins will go down'."

His employer, Tyro Caladian, showed no signs that he was tiring despite having to walk faster. Though Lorn kept it to himself, it was sometimes still hard to picture any Svivreni – who were stout, muscled, furry, and looked more at home in their native mountains – making their way on Coruscant. But Tyro was one of the best lawyers on the planet. He could have been one of the richest as well, if he hadn't kept to his morals and steadfast belief in democracy.

It was his business mantra of only serving honest clients that drew Lorn to him. Newly fired from his old job and with his wife gone, Lorn hadn't had anywhere else left to go. Clerking for a lawyer didn't pay as well as clerking for the Jedi Order, but it was a job.

"He sounded frightened when he contacted me," Tyro told him. "He insisted that he had information about a conspiracy that not only existed within the Trade Federation, but also existed at the heart of the Republic itself."

"And you believe him?" Lorn himself was sceptical. Neimoidians weren't exactly known for telling the truth.

Tyro shrugged. "I feel it's my duty as a citizen of the Republic to investigate any and all accusations of corruption. And even if it doesn't extend to the 'heart of the Republic', I can certainly believe that there is a conspiracy in the Trade Federation."

Lorn at least agreed on that.

They entered the lobby of their client's building before stepping into the turbo lift. The ride up was silent, and just when they arrived on the correct level, the lift suddenly shook from the force of an explosion. Both men managed to keep their footing, and the light above them flickered out.

The doors remained closed. Lorn pressed the button to open them manually, but they didn't respond. Tyro put his briefcase down and yanked the doors open with his bare hands, with little to no effort. It was the first time Lorn had witnessed such a display, and was surprised how a being of such small height could be so strong.

There was smoke in the hallways coming from their client's room, and the two men hurried towards it.

"Mr. Monchar!" Tyro called out. He stepped over the door that had been blown off by the explosion. Lorn followed him, coughing and waving away the smoke.

The room was charred black with very little items left over. Everything else had been destroyed. There were two bodies, both Neimoidian; one was lying on the floor and seemed to have taken the brunt of the explosion, while the other was slumped over what remained of the desk. Lorn recognised the second Neimoidian as Hath Monchar.

Tyro hurried over to the body of his client, though there was little hope that the man still lived. Lorn's attention, meanwhile, had been drawn to something on the floor.

Beneath a safe that had been blown open sat what could only be a Holocron. While it looked a little different compared to the ones that were used in the Jedi Temple, it was unmistakable.

Had the Jedi been involved in this attack? Had Monchar been meaning to expose them for something they had done?

The memories flooded back to him. The Jedi Council informing him that his son was Force-sensitive. Talking with Siena and agreeing to allow their son to be trained as a Jedi. Jax being taken into the Temple, screaming and crying for his parents, and the regret that filled Lorn immediately afterwards. Being fired from his job within the Temple, as per Jedi policy – a policy they'd neglected to inform him of. Demanding to have his son back, only to be refused. Siena leaving him because of it…

His life had been ruined by the Jedi. If there was some dark secret they were trying to hide, he could expose them. Better yet, he could use this information to barter with them: the Holocron in exchange for his son.

He turned around to make sure that Tyro wasn't looking. The Svivreni was using his commlink to contact the police, his back turned. Acting quickly, Lorn bent down and swiped up the Holocron before shoving it in his pocket.

"I would put that back, if I were you."

Lorn's commlink was suddenly ripped from his arm and crushed in mid-air. Out of the corner of his eye, Lorn saw Tyro's commlink also ripped from his hand before being crushed, and the Svivreni's ears twitched with fear while his fur stood on end. Lorn spun around and froze up at the sight before him: a Zabrak dressed in all black, his red face covered in black tattoos, and his yellow eyes almost glowing in the dim light.

He was holding an ignited lightsaber, and Lorn would call him a Jedi – except that he had never seen a Jedi with a red blade before.