Disclaimer: I do not own Darth Maul, Star Wars or KotOR.
Enjoy this first chapter!
Note: If you like this story, please leave a comment.
He grunted with pain, as he struggled to rise. His head felt as if on fire, and the rest of his body as if been hauled through ice naked. He began to check his body for injuries, but could find none. The tattoos he had had applied to his skin made it hard to distinguish anything, however. But he otherwise felt alright. Not until he realized that his tattoos were all visible, did he understand that his tunic, cape and his other accessories were gone. Only a pair of black pants covered him. He frowned, he could distinctively remember that he had had more clothes on him just a few minutes ago.
Pushing those thoughts away for now, the Zabrak began to look around the room with slight interest. It was grey room, with bits of purple-red. There were two bunks, one which he had been lying on. Two metallic sofas of some kind was standing in the middle of the room, with bright light emanating from the edges.When he turned to look out the window, he saw the emptiness of space. He squinted with his eyes suspiciously, he had no memory of leaving ground. Then the ship, he guessed, shook as if it was under fire. Then he saw a pair of odd-looking fighters fly past the window. They were sleek, with a small cockpit and long, thin wings with a twin set of cannons on them.
I guess they are the ones firing on… wherever I am, he thought, and twirled around just as the door across from the windows opened, revealing a blonde man dressed in a yellow and red uniform rushing towards him.
"The Endar Spire is under attack! The ship is doomed! Let's go to the escape pods!" he yelled to the Zabrak, but before he had time to say anything else, the alien kicked him in his chest, knocking out the man's breath. As he lay gasping for air, he managed to cough out: "Are you… insane? Attacking… like that? We're on the same side! I'm Trask… Ulgo, your bunkmate! Republic soldier, like you!"
"What? What makes you think I'm with the Republic?" the Zabrak sneered and looked down with a large, evil grin across his face, and then his face twisted into an malicious snarl as he said furiously: "Why have you brought me here? What is this ship? Answer me, or I'll gut you where you lie!" As to prove his point, the black and red tattooed warrior grabbed Trask's vibroblade and held it straight across the man's stomach, slowly pressing the blade inward.
Keeping his eyes on the vibroblade, Trask said in a frightened tone: "What? Don't you recognize this ship? It's the Endar Spire, the ship we're stationed on! You came onboard with the Jedi Generals that arrived a week or two ago. Apparently, you were transferred from one of the Core Worlds."
"Lies! Pathetic lies!" the Zabrak spat angrily at Trask, and pressed the vibroblade even harder against his stomach.
Maybe I should choke him, here and now. Then the Jedi would never know about our existence. That would please my Master. Yet, there's something wrong, I can't help but feel as if something is out of place…
As he searched his feelings, he tried to call on the Force, but felt cold dread swallow him, when he realised he could not use the Force. The swirling, dark and twisting currents of the Force was not there, it was just empty, a cold emptiness of space.
No! This cannot be! I cannot call on the Force! I feel it, it is so close, yet I cannot use it. It is out of my reach. Why has my Master done this? Why has he shut me off from the Force?
These thoughts swirled through his head, as he unconsciously leaned against the vibroblade, putting more pressure on Trask's stomach.
"No! I'm not lying! Wait, let's go to the bridge, and find out! The captain should be there, and probably the Jedi too!" Trask said hastily, hoping that the warrior would ease his grip on the weapon.
The Zabrak looked down on the man and then growled in acknowledgement.
I must regain the Force, even if it means keeping this man alive for a while. But as soon as I've gotten the Force back, I will slaughter him.
Trask rose unsteadily to his feet, and then told the warrior to take the things in the small dull-grey box close to the window, which the alien did. As soon as he had brought out the weapons, he motioned for the door, which Trask quickly opened.
They entered a narrow path, with another door leading out to the rest of the ship which, of course, was locked, but Trask managed to pick its magnetic seal rather fast.
As the door swooshed open, Trask and the Zabrak saw a Republic soldier fall to the ground, his chest charred from repeated blaster fire.
"That must be the advance boarding party of the Sith! Let's fight!" he called to the Zabrak, and peeked out from behind the door, firing against the four soldiers standing by the cross-junction. The lights in the clean corridor were reflecting off the armours worn by the soldiers, also mirroring the surroundings. The spaceship seemed to be coloured only in shades of grey, except for small stripes of red here and there.
The Zabrak took a swift look at the soldiers, frowning. He did not recognize their armor, they could not be Sith. There was only two of them, his Master and himself. Or had his Master lied to him, and secretly trained troops for a large-scale war? But why had he chosen now to appear to the Jedi and the Republic? Did he not wish to wait any longer? Only a mere minutes ago had he talked about patience. These thoughts passed through the head of the warrior, as he pondered what to do.
It must be a test by my Master, to see if I would stay loyal to those I'm fighting with, he thought and decided right then what to do. He looked at Trask, who still was firing and missing widly, and then charged right out at the Sith soldiers, wielding Trask's vibroblade and the one he'd found in the box. His yellow eyes glowing, he slashed the first trooper, watching with grim satisfaction as the man fell to the ground, howling in pain as his stomach fell out.
Then he proceeded with decapitating the second one, stopping only to view the dead one's grimace as the protection visor broke. Swiftly he cut off the arms of the third, and then ran both the blades through the fourth one. The man gurgled, grabbing at the blades as his life faded away, and then fell to the ground with a loud thud, leaving the third one to bleed to death.
"Come on, Ulgo. We better get to the bridge" he called out to his companion, who watched in awe the carnage the warrior had caused in a matter of seconds.
"Wow, you're good! Have you had Jedi training?" he asked, not noticing the sudden flare of anger flashing across the tattooed face. His hands twitching slightly, he answered the man.
"No! I have not. I'm… just good. Let's leave it at that." With those cold words, the warrior began to walk away, choosing the path that was not closed off by litter or empty walls. He mentally hit himself for almost revealing his Sith training to a man who seemingly fought them. Unless this is some kind of simulation, testing my patience.
When they made it to the last set of doors before the bridge, dozens of Sith grunts lay dead across the hallways, a few of them makred with lightsaber burns. As they walked up the elevated ramp, the Zabrak suddenly stopped, grabbing Trask's arm.
"Stay back! Someone's fighting, with a lightsaber beyond this door! I can hear it! Listen!" His dark voice hissed, and in his thoughts came the words: I cannot intervene now, the Force is gone and I have no lightsaber. Oh how I long for a lightsaber!
As they opened the door, the Zabrak's words were proven right, as they saw a Sith and a Jedi engaged in a deadly dance of lightsaber combat. The air was filled with the humming and clashing of the blades, and the air was lit up by the red and green blades, as they preyed on the weaknesses of their opponent.
When he saw the Jedi, the Zabrak narrowed his eyes, itching to jump on her and strangle her, yet was surprised to see her battle a Sith.
So, my Master has trained one behind my back, probably to replace me. Well, he will not succeed, he thought grimly, mentally preparing himself to fly into the combat and help the Jedi just this once. But then the Jedi gained the upper hand, and sliced the Sith across the torso.
He felt a small ounce of joy seeing the "replacer" fall to the ground, and was even prepared to congratulate the Jedi, when a plasma conduit in the wall exploded, scorching the Jedi's back, killing her instantly. Sparks flew from the destroyed conduit, the ground around the conduit scorched. That worked out nicely for me.
Beside him, Trask swore: "Blast! That was one of the Jedi accompanying Bastila. We could have used her help!" As he said that, a group of Sith soldiers arrived, their frightening silver armor shining brightly, wielding blasters and a few grenades.
The Zabrak bounced forward, grabbed the dead Jedi's lightsaber, and ignited it, feeling the comfortable weight in his hand.
The Sith soldiers began to immediately fire at him, and as the Force no longer stood under his command, he knew he had to finish the fight as fast as possible, unless he wished to die. And he was dead set on living.
He charged into the soldiers, cutting off their limbs and heads, ignoring the cries of pain, listening only to the sounds of blaster shots and the constant humming from his temporary lightsaber. He held back his fury and his skill, so that he would look a bit clumsy with the weapon, yet still effective.
The group of soldiers soon lay on the ground, their wounds instantly cauterized from the searing beam of light of the lightsaber.
The colour green is quite cool, he thought and smiled at the irony in the words. He was a Sith warrior, wielding a double-bladed lightsaber, or saberstaff, with the red colour symbolizing the Dark Side, and yet here he was, commenting the "coolness" of the green lightsaber.
Trask looked at him with awe, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.
"Hey, Ulgo, stop staring or your eyes will fall out. Oh, and before you ask again, I've not had Jedi training, I just guessed how to use it. It's not as hard as you might think" he commented sarcastically to the Republic soldier who quickly looked away.
"Come on, the bridge is through this door here! They should be on the other side!" was the only thing Trask said, not wanting to stare any further at the mysterious tattooed Zabrak warrior.
The Zabrak only laughed, and clipped the lightsaber to his belt, taking up a vibrosword, not wanting to use the lightsaber in the company of others. Ulgo had seen it partially, but he had held back, so that it would not be too apparent that he was trained, and since Ulgo was so gullible, it would not matter anyway.
As Ulgo opened the door, two Sith soldiers instantly rushed at them, but they were easily dispatched between Ulgo and the Zabrak. A group of Sith grunts and Republics fought at the front, but before the two could reach them several consoles exploded, killing the fighters.
Trask swore loudly, they had been his friends, and he had no time to mourn them at that moment. So they continued onward, through the door on the left of the V-shaped bridge, from the frontal view. As they passed through the door, the Zabrak couldn't shake the feeling of that there was something wrong. He was about to mention it to Trask, whom he had decided to spare for now, even if they stood for two different sides of governments, when the man suddenly said: "There is someone behind this door, I'll check out who it is." Before the Zabrak warrior could stop him, he had rushed over to the other side of the room and opened the door there, ignoring the one to his left, which probably led to the escape pods.
No sooner had he opened the door, when another Dark Jedi appeared, wielding a double-bladed red lightsaber. The sight stunned the warrior, whom only watched numbly as Trask picked up a vibroblade and charged toward the Dark Jedi, shouting: "I'll keep him off your back, you get to the escape pods, go!" As he passed the doors he just opened, an explosion in the console to the door shut it and sealed it tight.
The Zabrak shook himself out of his brain-dead shape, and ran into the door to his left, taking him to the starboard section of the ship, toward the escape pods.
Well on the other side of the blast door, he quickly sealed it, and played the event that just happened in his head again. Trask had saved him, without even knowing who he was. He had given his life for a stranger.
He gave his life for a Sith, the ones he was fighting. How ironic, the Zabrak thought sourly. No one had ever done such a thing for him. No one, except his Master, had ever looked after him. And his Master had always been sadistic and cruel, giving pain for no reason.
The Jedi never did such things, as far as he knew. Yet he bore that simmering hatred for them, not knowing why. He decided to come in contact with a Jedi as soon as possible, and talk to them, to try and discern whether his Master really was the best choice. He had endured the pain his whole life, yet what if the Jedi had discovered him? What would have happened then? These questions, never before seen the light of day in his head, swirled around as he tried to clear his thoughts.
No! I will not betray my Master. Not yet. But I will talk to the Jedi, if only to gain back my connection to the Force. Then I'll dispose of them. Besides, Ulgo's death only helped me. Now no one knows of my use of the lightsaber. But where could my own be?
His mind set, he began to walk along the linear corridor, when the clumsy metallic thing attached to his belt began to beep. He looked at it and frowned. It was an old communicator model, one not used in over three thousand years. It was a voice-only communicator, he realised.
He pressed a random button, and the voice of an unknown male ringed in his ears.
"This is Captain Onasi. I am tracking you through the Endar Spire's life systems. There is only you left of the crew. Get to the escape pods as fast as you can, but be careful. Sith troopers are everywhere."
Then the man cut communications, and the silence settled again over the corridor.
But the silence did not last long. After a few minutes of running, he saw a Sith soldier cut down a Republic soldier, and with glee the Zabrak rushed at the soldier, eager for combat, howling a savage war cry. The soldier, taken completely by surprise, was quickly cut down by the humming lightsaber.
The rest of the way was a trip down the alley for the warrior. The few groups of Sith he encountered were swiftly dealt with. The halls were littered with bodies, amputated in one way or another. The lust for battle drove the warrior. When the man named Carth Onasi contacted him to warn him about the group of soldiers behind a door, he ignored the man, and cut the door open with the green lightsaber.The group inside fired instantly at him, but his reflexes were fast enough to block their shots back at them, and soon they lay in a heap, smoking holes in their bodies.
He walked past the bodies, not noticing the carnage, and opened the door on the other end of the little room.
In the other room, containing the escape pods, stood a man by a console, who looked up, blaster pointing at the warrior, before slowly lowering it, saying with a stressed voice: "You've made it just in time! Bastila's escape pod is away, and we have to leave now, if the Sith are not to blow the ship up!"
"Then what are we waiting for?" said the warrior calmly, and pushed himself inside the small escape pod, shortly followed by the Republic Captain.
As they jettisoned, the Captain looked up at his ship with sad eyes, murmuring: "Goodbye, beautiful." The warrior eyed him conspicuously, but the man didn't notice.
Then an explosion rocked the escape pod, and both of the men looked up at the ship, watching the turbolasers of the other destroyer ripping it apart. Then alarms began to beep, and the Zabrak lost control of the escape pod, and it plunged down toward the planet below.
The citizens of the city block watched in awe as the escape pod swirled in, crashing into the ground, ripping up the pavements, and felling people to the floor.
Smoke rose from the pod, as a man opened the hatch. He wheezed in the smoke, squinting his eyes to see out through it, then took the unconscious Zabrak with him, carrying the man on his back, away from the public, and down into a series of apartments.
He walked inside, seeing and feeling the despair hanging in the air, as the aliens walked past him, all looking at him with dull hatred. He ignored them, and pushed his way through the crowd that started to gather around him, looking for an apartment to use, which he quickly found. The door stood open, and there was no one inside. He got inside, shut the door, and then put the man on a bed. There was something mysterious about the man, but he could not put a finger on what.
As he checked the alien for any broken legs or ribs, he noticed that the whole body was covered with tattoos in black and red. Probably was the tattoos that felt so wrong about the man, he thought.
Wow, that must've hurt, he mused, before he thumped down in a chair, and slowly fell asleep, his head slightly tinting backward.
A/N: Well, this is it. The journey has started. I will follow the events of KotOR, but not down to every detail. I might skip a few things, or add weight to some other. But I will probably change a lot of the dialogue, so that it won't be exactly like KotOR, which it won't because of our mysterious Sith warrior from the future.
This is how I interpret our "mysterious" traveler, both in thought and reaction.