Part 25: Where We Are

2 ABY.

Dathomir.

Darth Maul sat hooded in his lair, surrounded by his artifacts, his conquest of The Underworld complete.

The pulse of Dathomir resonated with him more and more each day, and he broke his dark meditation only when a chime from his holo-terminal sounded.

Flickering blue, Q'ra appeared as a hologram in the center of the room.

Maul opened his yellow eyes and waited for her to speak.

"Lord Starkiller has taken Tatooine."

His senses were true, then.

"The Pykes must be pleased." Maul said.

"Oba Diah is displeased with the resolution."

Maul rose.

He knew The Pyke Syndicate had their ambitions on Tatooine as to hold a firm grip on The Spice Triangle and use it as a means of spreading their influence into that sector of The Galaxy…to say nothing of the established network of income Jabba left behind.

If they were not pleased, then it meant they did not hold Tatooine.

"If not them, then whom?"

"For himself, my lord."

Maul smiled at that.

He had been trying to move his apprentice further into his development as a sith, and Maul had told him of the importance of a power base.

If Maul's words weren't enough, it was reiterated by the holocron of Darth Nox, which he had allowed his eager apprentice to study fragments of.

One day Darth Starkiller would take The Crimson Dawn for his own, but until then taking Tatooine was a worthy step.

And the thought of the feeble frustration of The Syndicate pleased Maul.

Still, Tatooine was tied to the boy Luke Skywalker, and that significance did not escape Maul. He was well aware that returning to Tatooine might involve certain…reflections in his apprentice, but Maul needed to trust that his training would hold and make him more resolute than ever.

For almost four years Maul trained him, and three of them molded from the ground up after he had broken the boy into a workable condition. After the work Maul had done on him, Starkiller became a greater sith than ever before, and had no signs of repeating past…mistakes.

He had proved himself a true sith, and perhaps worthy of trust.

Giving him the reigns of the campaign against the hutts had discontented Q'ra, but it was a decision that proved its success in the end.

"Has The Empire reacted?" Maul asked.

"I have received word from Karrde." Q'ra said. "There is some minor chatter, mostly from those assigned to monitoring Underworld activities. It is hard to say, as our reach only extends as high as sub-commanders…but our well-developed base has me confident that its a curiosity at most."

Maul contemplated that…it bode well that The Empire had not yet intervened as they had in years past, but in those days Maul had revealed his influence too much as to attract Vader's ire.

It did eat at Maul, the thought that his former master and his own apprentice would see his hand behind it again…but Maul had been delicate and distanced himself as best he could, and hadn't left Dathomir in years.

He assured himself that it would be seen as an ambitious Q'ra and hungry Pyke Syndicate finally pouncing on The Hutts, and that no one would think Maul would dare try his hand a second time after failing so the first time.

And The Empire had been focused on The Rebellion, too blind to see Maul's machinations.

But The Rebellion was destroyed.

Alderaan, Yavin IV and Mon Cala had all been obliterated by the mighty Death Star.

Even without Q'ra informing him of the events, Maul felt the ripples in The Force…millions of voices screaming out for a delicious moment of suffering, The Dark Side surged in him like never before…then it was gone.

Grand Moff Tarkin had delivered an address on occupied Chandrila informing The Galaxy of The Empire's victory and revealing The Death Star to the public in all its terrible glory.

Now that The Imperial Senate was dissolved, Tarkin had declared a new doctrine for a new order…one to be enforced by the shadow of The Death Star cast across The Galaxy.

It was a magnificent weapon, and Maul looked forward to claiming it for its own…but as powerful a weapon it was, he would have it destroyed if it turned against him…it would be a loss, but even that would be insignificant compared to the power of The Force.

The grip The Empire held was stronger than ever, and it would make things more difficult for Maul…but once he took it for his own, it would be a boon.

But there were still some small remnants that had escaped or not been present at The Battle of Yavin, and The Empire was still focused on obliterating the last gasps of resistance led by the lone Admiral Ackbar. It was a window that was quickly closing for Maul to hide his operations, and afterwards things would become much more difficult.

Still…he knew his master well, and for all the likelihood Maul was safe in the shadows and that his former ambitions would be dismissed as the failures they were…the currents of The Galaxy did not escape his senses.

The senses of him… not the false names he had been known by…not The Emperor, Supreme Chancellor, Senator, and least of all by Palpatine. No, his one, true name.

Darth Sidious.

"Perhaps it does not matter to the likes of admirals and directors." Maul continued at last. "But those of true power will know, in their own way."

Q'ra was well used to Maul across the years, and did not seek to hasten him during his bouts of silence nor did she deign to contradict him in the ethereal matters he referenced. She had known Maul long enough to know he was a being unlike none other.

"Maybe so." Q'ra said. "Though as it stands, there hasn't been any significant pushback. Indeed, we have the opportunity to expand our imperial network by buying up the hutts' former contacts in The Empire."

"Careful that you do not tip your hand, Lady Q'ra." Maul said. "Corruption is tolerated within The Empire, to a point."

"The Empire was distracted enough with The Rebellion to pay little mind, my lord." She said. "Even now, they are more concerned with hunting down the small pockets that escaped Yavin to worry about criminals. And their arrogance will be their undoing."

Maul was satisfied enough with her response, and inclined his head.

"I will leave the operation of The Crimson Dawn alliance to you, Lady Q'ra." Maul said. "Now that The Underworld is firmly under my control, I have…other tasks to focus on."

"Your network will be safe in my hands, my lord."

"See that it is." Maul said. "Tell me how operations are being settled."

"There will be negotiations to deal with, minor disputes and quarrels over spice lanes." Q'ra said. "Though as we only have a small presence with the likes of spice running and arms trading, the pykes are more or less happy to let us dominate the spheres of information brokering and other black markets."

"Are there any new artifacts of interest secured?"

"No holocrons, I fear." She said. "They are…difficult to find."

"Find them." Maul said. "Any that exist outside The Empire's grasp will be mine."

"Yes, my lord."

"Still." Maul said. "What you have found may be of some small use. Discern what is worthy of my time and send them to me."

"It will be done."

Maul gave her his back, to signal the end of the conversation, and was mildly surprised when she spoke. When she did, her tone was different than it usually was.

"You…you said you mean to take on The Empire." Q'ra began. "Is that still true?"

"My criminal empire is but the first step to greater things." Maul said. "Make certain it stays mine."

Q'ra stood, contemplating in silence, before speaking again.

"Yes, my lord."She said a moment before her image disappeared. "Q'ra out."

It seemed Q'ra was beginning to grow anxious now that the simple matter of conquering The Underworld was coming to an end.

She was in her element then, but future matters…the matters of taking on The Empire, that was unknown to her. But Maul knew she would be capable to the task.

She had proven herself a useful tool in the past years as Maul knew she would, but he was beginning to think her usefulness…and by extension her life, would continue longer than he had initially expected.'

Q'ra was an expert administrator and skilled in matters of diplomacy and intrigue…she could fit in just as well in a Coruscant gala as a dangerous deal with The Black Sun.

In the plans ahead, Maul could find more use for her outside of The Underworld he was certain…but for now she would need to be fixed squarely on settling his criminal empire into a comfortable status quo before he could move her.

And what plans he had.

Now that The Underworld was all but his, he had full access to an expansive information network to mold his machinations around and a black market to seek the most hidden of dark side relics.

Maul knew that the best they would get was already their's when it came to those esoteric trades, but they would need to grow their informants, spies and agents inside The Empire immensely if his plans to take hold from within would stand a chance.

Spice running was necessary, but most of it was given to The Pykes. The only of the traditional markets Maul had focused them on was arms trading, and even that was favored towards Oba Diah.

In the times ahead he would have Q'ra absorb more of that market, as it would allow him to grow his influence even more. Credits were of no matter, but supplying a stream of arms towards select venues would allow him to affect The Galaxy in a significant way without having to directly involve himself.

And whats more, one day if he meant to take on The Empire…a war would necessitate weapons.

But before any of that, he would need soldiers. Warriors .

In that, Maul knew exactly where he would find them.

It would be difficult to work with them again given how Maul left things last time…but if Q'ra's information was correct they were presently in no position to turn down his aid, and by then he'd already have his hooks in again.

That would be his next step in his Grand Plan, but Maul would need to wait until things had been settled in The Underworld before diverting his resources towards another venture…and more importantly he needed his apprentice to return.

Maul anticipated his return…his apprentice had been away for some time and Maul had grown to be… used to his presence by his side.

Darth Starkiller had been just a boy when Maul met him, but he had become a flourishing sith lord in these years by Maul's design.

He had become talented with the lightsaber and fashioned a deep connection to The Force. While his apprentice didn't have much of a mind for intrigue, neither did Maul at his age…so Maul was slowly guiding him into the role.

Where he lacked in a care for The Underworld, he made up for in a passion for sith lore and ancient knowledge. After Maul finished a holocron or writing, his apprentice would all but beg him to see it. Maul selected the portions carefully before presenting them, and even allowed him to read excerpts of Mother Talzin's writings.

To Maul's surprise, his young apprentice had a drive for learning and understanding those ancient mysteries. More than that, he had an interest in history and knowledge for its own sake…the tomes Maul deemed useless such as self-indulgent journals or memoirs of senile alchemists were just as interesting to his apprentice as a valuable sith holocron.

Maul had attempted to tell him that knowledge was only so useful as a means to learn powerful techniques or find secrets that may be used against others, but his apprentice had disagreed…finding it as a form of power in itself.

The sentiments were there, but young Darth Starkiller hadn't committed himself to the pursuit of knowledge…he only had a general curiosity, and only consumed the scraps cast away by Maul himself…his focus was on the worldly plans Maul had set up for him, and the practical pursuit of conventional power.

And in those regards, Darth Starkiller had compounded each day.

Maul had taught him advanced techniques and how to deepen his connection to The Dark Side, which Maul siphoned from him in turn to grow his own power. Darth Starkiller had come far from the days where he couldn't focus on wielding The Force and using his lightsaber at the same time…he could split his focus across many objects at the same time and cultivate a deep darkness in himself.

He had focused mostly on conventional sith training and rituals, but Maul had gave his apprentice light overviews on what he had learned of magick…Maul was looking forward to practicing what he had learned in his apprentice's absence.

The years had been fruitful, and Maul expected his apprentice to take to the ancient sith alchemies…but Darth Starkiller was still young and only beginning to learn how far he had to go to even reach Maul's shadow.

But it wasn't just his apprentice who had grown in power over the years.

Maul himself was far more powerful than he had ever been, and only now as he reached new heights did he see how measly he truly had been.

He had been a mighty warrior and a great sith lord…he had killed jedi masters and disrupted his master's decades-long plan with only months to carve out his own power base and more …but even still, he had sacrificed his studies in The Dark Side to trivial worldly matters.

Though now, his isolation on Dathomir had given him ample time to experiment with The Force and study the myriad of relics Q'ra had obtained for him.

Most of it was useless, of course, but clues had been hidden in the most obscure places…teases towards greater abilities and trails leading to esoteric wonders. Spoiled by holocrons, Maul found the scraps of knowledge found more commonly frustrating, but at least the dark side relics provided to him were stained by The Dark Side and provided some insight.

And even more intriguing were the planetary cults long forgotten who had specialized in a sort of magick comparable to The Nighsisters…force-users unaffected by the taint of the jedi-centric dogma that seeped into even the ancient sith order, who viewed and used The Force in fundamentally different ways.

Those were useful to Maul, in finding hints of new leads towards power, or tying into his existing pursuits of nightsister magick to fill in the gaps Mother Talzin's unfinished memoir had left.

The sith holocron he had found in Grakkus's vault those years ago had been a well of knowledge. Histories and reflection aside, the practical secrets contained within specific abilities and techniques had kept Maul more than occupied.

Many of what was described guided Maul to elevating his existing techniques and deepen his connection to The Dark Side, but there were mysteries in there completely new to him.

Force-Walking, in particular, was of great interest to Maul…a difficult ability to learn, but in doing so would allow him to significantly increase his power so he may fare even better against his master one day.

Much of his study was focused on that, a confrontation with his master. It was one thing to seek out and learn new dark side abilities to increase his power, but Maul knew he must learn to defend against what had laid him low time and time again against his master.

The mere thought of it made Maul's muscles twitch and skin tingle, pain inflicted so deeply it was forever a part of him…force lightning.

Originally, Maul was content to glance over the jedi artifacts in Grakkus's collection and to use them as a guide to where the jedi might have hidden sith relics, but when he heard about ancient jedi learning defensive techniques combatting lightning…it proved a greater resource than he ever expected.

It was a difficult thing to train without a partner capable of emitting lightning, his apprentice wasn't yet capable of such things and Maul would never teach him…but he had found some aid in certain combat droids Q'ra had found or commissioned capable of shooting arcs of lightning.

Never as intense of the lightning of a sith lord, but it gave him something to practice against.

Indeed, Maul would have no true way of knowing how useful his training had been until he faced his master…and that would be victory or death.

So for as much as he hoped to mitigate his master's crippling advantage over him, Maul knew he would need to grow his power in other ways…both to become a stronger sith, and to learn in ways that even his master hadn't had a chance to so he may be as unknown an opponent Maul could be.

Mother Talzin's gift to him was invaluable for that…his isolation on Dathomir had given him time and opportunity to study and practice her words, and unlike other teachings of sith and jedi alike, her words were tailored specifically for him and made to be practiced on Dathomir.

Maul had grown a connection to the planet already, but he had truly found a link with it in these years of studying her teachings and practicing deeper forms of Nightsister magick.

Widening his perspective, or changing it outright, from the sith-jedi centric view of The Force so he may embrace a new tie to The Dark Side had been difficult…but the writings of the mad Taron Malicos helped Maul skip over early problems.

For if a man who had lived most of his life as a dogmatic jedi could learn minor magicks, Maul as a sith lord could learn greater sorceries.

The look into what issues he encountered gave Maul the chance to circumvent those entirely, and to learn how he later fused some of his own views with the nightsister's wildly different practices.

He was capable of learning and performing rituals in the past, but to harness and wield the magicks himself…independent of any supplementary artifacts or tools, was another thing entirely.

It had been a long, difficult journey to even understand the basics of what Mother Talzin had written…but Maul was filled with catharsis when he realized how simple the matter of magick was.

Magick was not wildly different from what he was already familiar with…not something to spend a lifetime learning to tap into.

It was all The Force. It was all The Dark Side.

And it was all around him already, all he needed to do was take it.

If The Dark Side was the external domination and control of The Force…magick was the internal, not acting as a master of The Dark Side but as a catalyst .

No wonder Mother Talzin had led her coven on Dathomir…the world itself was a catalyst.

He had already felt it, how Dathomir was steeped with The Dark Side as toxins seep into soil. Churning within the spiritual core of the planet, growing stronger…fermenting…becoming more pure as the centuries of suffering inflicted either by or to Dathomir strengthened its evil.

Maul could feel it, but he hadn't realized he could draw it out…not in the truest sense. Maul thought merely sensing the darkness was enough to deepen his connection, but he had been blind to how much power was possible.

Through combining Mother Talzin's teachings and Taron Malicos's ravings and using other sources of knowledge and experience to supplement the gaps, Maul learned how to extract that darkness from Dathomir.

That is what magick was, the ability to extract the energy from a dark world and make it one's own…to carry that power inside and to wield it.

It was The Force, as all things were, but this particular strand of darkness belonged to Dathomir first and foremost…and was a finite resource. For now , that was…Maul had experimented throughout the years to try and replicate the indefinite supply Mother Talzin had carried in her lifetime.

But the more he practiced, the more futile it seemed. Had Mother Talzin actually had her own source of magick, or had she been so completely immersed in Dathomir that all the planet's darkness had become her's to carry?

Or perhaps Maul had been wrong, and mistook Mother Talzin's metaphor for fact…and the nightsister magicks merely a different mindset approaching The Dark Side, nothing more.

Either way, Maul had pulled much of it in himself and learned to harness it on some level…soon when he would finally venture offworld he would be able to see how much he hold outside of Dathomir.

As the dark jedi in milenia past had fused their vision with the sith of Korriban and elevated themselves to even greater heights, Maul would become even stronger by fusing the Sith Order with the nightsisters of Dathomir…his new line would be the greatest evolution of sith ever seen.

Learning the ways of the nightsisters filled Maul with a certain…familiarity. Knowing that Mother Talzin had left him something, an inheritance of knowledge and power, made him feel connected in more ways than The Dark Side. He was a part of something, a lineage…a family.

A family killed three times over by his master.

The Nighsisters, destroyed on his orders…his brother Savage killed by his own hand, and Mother Talzin died a final death due to him.

Yet every time Maul had survived…each time Maul had suffered more, and grew more powerful. One day ahead, at last, all of his pain would be turned onto the one who had caused it all.

The Dark Side, fueled by that suffering, would break his chains at last.

The Force would set him free.

Now, the closest thing he had to family was…his apprentice. Once Luke Skywalker, Darth Starkiller was molded by Maul's hand…perhaps one day they could be as brothers.

Maul could trust him to obey, and his apprentice would value Maul's control.

As if summoned by the thought, Maul heard noise from outside his lair. A ship, and the only one that would arrive would be that of his apprentice.

Darth Starkiller had returned.

Leaving his lair and emerging to the blood red soil of Dathomir, Maul could hear his apprentice's ship carving through the howls of the world.

Darth Starkiller's pre-imperial A-Wing came into view and landed slowly.

When his apprentice stepped out of the ship, Maul realized how long it had been since they had last met.

They had been aware of each other on some level, but Maul had given his apprentice full reign over the last stages of their campaign against the hutts and Maul made certain to keep his contact to The Crimson Dawn restricted solely to Q'ra.

The power in Darth Starkiller was swirling, and the darkness Maul siphoned from him was almost overwhelming in its intensity and how long it had been.

Allowing him to act on his own and deepen his connection to The Dark Side independently had worked as Maul had hoped, and he could already tell Darth Starkiller had developed even more as a sith lord.

Trusting him was a risk, in both his ability to succeed and that the suppression of Luke Skywalker would hold without oversight…but it was necessary for him to advance.

Walking up, Darth Starkiller kneeled in front of Maul.

"The hutt cartel is destroyed, master." He said. "All has gone to plan."

"Good." Maul said. "I am told you have taken Tatooine for your own."

"Yes, master." He said. "I have taken it for my power base."

"The foundation." Maul said. "It pleases me that you have taken such strides in your sith training."

"I owe all that I am to you, master.

"This is true." Maul agreed. "Were there any difficulties in your mission?"

"Nothing of note, master." Darth Starkiller said. "There was a hired bounty hunter, with some touch of The Force…but in the end, Jabba had no hope."

Maul inclined his head.

A force-sensitive bounty hunter? Jabba had tried to match the threat, at least.

"What was the name of this bounty hunter?"

"Aurra Sing."

The name was familiar to Maul…he knew of her well, and had dealt with her many years ago in his younger days. She was a truly formidable bounty hunter, and had killed her share of jedi…it was a testament to his apprentice's ability that he came back without major wounds.

To his knowledge, she had been reported to be dead by the hands of Tobias Beckett…but Maul had been doubtful of the report even then. Even the greatest bounty hunters could be killed in mishaps or cheap tricks…all they had to rely on was luck , after all.

But Aurra Sing had some small connection to The Force, and as Maul knew better than any other…The Dark Side could substain one through the most terrible of wounds.

Maul had expected this to be what he could sense Darth Starkiller was hiding…perhaps some shame over having more difficulty than he thought he should. But still, Maul could sense something stirring.

"I am pleased to hear of your victory." Maul said. "Yet, I sense…that you are hiding something from me, my apprentice.

He opened his mouth but knew better than to lie to Maul.

The reaction Maul felt flutter in him confirmed that he was hiding something.

"I went back to the homestead."

"Ah." Maul inclined his head.

Anxiety bubbled in his apprentice, and Maul waited for him to explain himself.

"I confronted my life as Luke Skywalker." He said. "And I buried it."

Maul could sense the truth in his words, but there was something deeper .

"Yet that is not all." Maul said. "There is more."

His apprentice bowed his head.

"There was…there was…a vision."

Maul tilted his head.

"Tell me what you saw."

"I…"

" Tell me." He growled.

Darth Starkiller bit his lip and Maul could feel fear in his apprentice, and below it something else stir. Something that hadn't stirred in a long time…something Maul had thought he destroyed.

He felt Luke Skywalker.

Just for a moment, then it was gone. But even a momentary lapse was too much. What had his apprentice seen?

"Obi-Wan Kenobi." Starkiller said at last. "He appeared to me at the homestead, and spoke to me."

Maul chilled.

How could it be? Could it… no , no Maul wouldn't accept such a thing. It couldn't be.

"What…what did he say?"

"Jedi lies." Starkiller said. "That I was on the wrong path. I banished him, master."

"I see."

"Likely just a mirage, or a trick of the mind." Starkiller shook his head. "You killed him."

"Perhaps." Maul said.

But he knew better.

The old image filled his mind, he could see nothing else, and a cold hatred ran through his bones.

A body dissolved into nothing, leaving nothing but robes to the sands.

Jedi tricks, indeed.

How could he hope to confront the one truly behind his suffering if he couldn't destroy the others who had acted as proxies for his pain too?

It was his master who discarded him, but it was the jedi who cut him in two to be left in the trash to begin with.

The fool wasn't content to steal Maul's victory by surviving in some ethereal form, he was trying to sway his apprentice. Maul had killed his rival and stolen The Chosen One for himself to make his own, these triumphs were his by right.

They would not be undermined.

He would dissuade his apprentice from thinking anything of it, he had to lest there be any hope of a different path…but he knew the truth.

Maul gritted his teeth.

Kenobi was out there.