Chapter 1: The Beginning
"Run." Maz Kanata ran towards the edge of the lakeside remembering her family's words. "Run to the east shore of the lake and hide, Takadona is an unforgiving place."
Leaping across tree trunks, careful not to make a sound on the twigs strewn across the forest floor, Maz sprinted as fast as her short frame could allow. Adrenaline fueling her every move as trees flew by and terror sank its teeth in Maz's chest.
As soon as she reached the clear, Maz slowed down for a rest, crouching behind a jagged rock. Takodana's bright moon glimmered above her, shedding a blanket of light over the lake, Maz didn't mind the dark, but tonight it was almost as if there was no brightness left on the planet except for the moon's rustic red glow. Making sure that no one was on her trail and Maz hadn't forgotten something, Maz found her little forest alcove and sat down to eat some of her favorite berries near her castle.
Her family told Maz that the castle had once been an ancient outpost for all kinds of people, and wasn't really a castle despite Maz's nickname for it. Maz knew that it wasn't like the stories she's heard about the castles and palaces on Naboo or anywhere else in the galaxy, but Maz had never seen something so big, so she and her brother...Mundo, where is he?
Maz's heart skipped beats and thudded against her chest, she felt as if a giant hole had swallowed her up, Mundo, how could she have forgotten her own brother, especially during a time like this? Maz didn't remember small footsteps or clumsy strides behind her when she fled. Maz scrambled to her feet and forced her exhausted body to run back into the forest.
Not far away from the castle, Maz began to think about her brother, surely he was trapped, or alone, or worse. She cleared the negative thoughts out of her head and reached the ancient castle's exterior.
Maz wiped away the beads of sweat on her rough orange forehead and took out her macrobinoculars from her satchel which she crafted from the bark of Takodana's trees. Adjusting the focus, Maz saw an unknown transport, well one of that kind. The artillery seemed plenty, with huge thrusters, but the thing that struck Maz dumbfounded was the size of the cargo hold.
Maz cursed under her breath in relief, no one's on the ship yet so they haven't been taken, but what if they, whatever they meant, weren't taking captives, what if it was a massacre, Maz thought. Quickly Maz's thoughts were debunked as she focused on the cuffs that littered the empty hull. But then again why would any ship be this far in the Mid-reach?
"At least Mundo isn't on the ship yet." Maz muttered, still zoomed in on the ship. Maz crept up to the castle and stood behind the entrance's mossy walls; looking both ways Maz ran to the field housing the transport and started looking for a control panel that would shelter most of the transport's vital systems. Maz opened the panel and started her sabotage, Maz wanted to make sure that the ship didn't explode, but just shut off the systems thrusters to prevent it from taking off.
Maz re-connected the wires with ease as this was something Maz did a lot, in fact Maz even had a whole room in the castle for her trinkets and projects. Maz connected the final wire and turned around to be met by a dark figure looming over her. Before Maz could react, everything went black, all except for a bright crimson glow and a hum that almost felt familiar to her. The last thing Maz heard was the sound of thrusters sounding and a transport leaving a planetary system ring in her ears.