Travien grinned at the Sith,
"I see you survived, Concido."
Maul snarled, "Do not call me that. I am Darth Maul." He activated both of his lightsaber blades. For the first time in his life Travien called on both the light and dark sides of the Force at once. More accurately he just called on the Force. Travien raised his sabre just as Maul charged at him. He laughed and began deflecting the sabre blades away from himself, using the parries to build up momentum until he had Maul on the defensive. He heard a sound behind him and knew that Padmé had just run into destroyer droids. There was nothing he could do right now but he trusted the Jedi to look after her even in the unlikely event that she couldn't look after herself.
Travien ducked under the swing of one of Maul's blades and planted a firm kick in his abdomen, causing the older Sith to back away from him coughing. Maul backed toward a large doorway and threw a piece of debris into the door panel causing it to open.
"What's wrong Concido, surely you're not trying to run already. We've only just gotten started." taunted Travien.
Maul launched at him with a series of angry blows and was forced back into a room that looked like some sort of power generation plant. The huge transparent pillars seemed to not only glow but hum with energy. He grinned at Maul, who tried twirling away from him,
"Do you know the history behind that weapon of yours?" he asked politely, catching Maul off guard and allowing Travien to push him further back while Maul barely dodge slash to his upper torso.
"What history?" snarled the other Sith,
Travien smiled and bent backwards to dodge a horizontal slash that would have decapitated him. He collapsed to the ground and rolled backwards, getting to his feet in time to dodge a rather accurate vertical follow up to his original attack. Travien dodged the attack by spinning around and brought his sabre around in a strike that forced Maul back a couple of paces. He launched into a series of fast swirling strikes born out of Djem So, keeping the less experienced Dark Lord off balance and moving backwards.
"The double bladed sabre. Mother used to use one so I looked it up. It was first created by Sith Lord Exar Kun, about forty years before I was born." He dodged another slash and caught Maul's right arm with the lightsaber equivalent of an uppercut. Maul jumped backwards,
"Why should I care?" he asked with a glare,
"Simple, Concido, you must always respect a weapon. If you fail to respect it then it will turn against you. I suspect that you don't respect the Force either, do you?"
Maul barely held out against the flurry of blows that Travien attempted to land on him this time. He moved backwards and lost his footing, causing him to fall from the ledge. He managed to catch himself just in time to use the Force to land properly only to look up and see that Travien had followed him. The cape from Travien's armour fluttered upward as the Sith Lord landed lightly on his feet in front of Maul. Travien decided to stop playing around and slid his right foot forward, leaning on his left and bringing his lightsaber up beside his head, his right shoulder and hand leaning towards Maul, "Enough playing Concido, now we finish this." He said in his father's favourite stance.
Maul stayed stationary and waited for Travien to attack. He was not disappointed either. Travien launched himself forward faster than he ever had before and began layering blow upon blow upon Maul. The weaker Sith was at the limit of his ability just to prevent the myriad of attacks from turning him into thin strips. Maul eventually blocked an upward shot which allowed Travien to kick at his still slightly injured legs causing Maul to reel back in agony.
The distraction it caused was enough time for Travien to slice the saberstaff in two. Maul staggered back from the attack and was completely unprepared for Travien to plunge his lightsaber straight through his chest. Maul's eyes widened dramatically as he felt the burning sword clip his heart and he knew that he would die,
"Light or Dark Concido, I am the Lord of the Sith. You are a threat to Padmé and cannot be allowed to exist. I condemn you to the afterlife with the knowledge that you failed. I will continue on and your master will die by my hand." He hissed before pulling his sabre back and kicking Maul off of the bridge. Maul fell into the darkness below and Travien walked back towards the door,
He breathed out deeply, "It's done." He nodded and walked off. That creature was no Sith, he was never a Darth and didn't deserve Travien's respect. He had been attacked because of Maul's displaced sense of rage and his injured pride. Both of those were what had condemned him to death. Travien snorted and left quickly, intent upon catching up with Padmé. He smiled when he realised that the warnings from the Force had stopped screaming at him.
Suddenly the screaming started again and this time it took on a familiar voice telling him to run, that he had to hurry. He remembered all of a sudden when he had heard the screaming before. The last time he had heard it had been the deaths of his parents. Travien's eyes widened and he broke out into a run, following the Force signature that Padmé left behind, seeing an echo of the events as he ran.
Padmé sighed and turned away from the oncoming fight, she knew that this was a matter of pride for Travien. He was the one who had given the Sith another chance and it was his responsibility to deal with him, but that didn't make her feel any better. She felt slightly reassured as Qui-Gon dropped into step beside her and Obi-Wan took up position beside Sabé,
"Your majesty," he whispered, "Is it wise to allow Lord Shan to deal with the Sith himself?"
Padmé shook her head, "Wise? No, it isn't wise. It is however necessary. Travien was the one who let him go in the first place. If Concido, or whatever his name is, hasn't learned now then he isn't going to. Travien needs to finish what he started. To him this is separating him from the standard Sith. It's not easy for him."
Qui-Gon was about to ask exactly what Padmé meant by that but was distracted when three destroyer droids rolled out in front of them equipped with shield generators. All five lightsaber wielders made an effort to deflect the blaster fire back at the droids, Padmé lasting the longest but even she had to take cover until she heard a noise that didn't seem right. Padmé looked over to the last starfighter in the hangar and saw that it was powering up, she nudged Qui-Gon, "Isn't Anakin in that starfighter?" she asked urgently,
"Oh Sith!" swore Qui-Gon,
"They have their own problems." retorted Padmé.
Qui-Gon glared at her, "Not the right time, your majesty." He said. Padmé shrugged as they watched the fighter move slowly from its stationary spot and turn towards the destroyer droids in front of them. Padmé looked on in surprise and relief as she saw the starfighter open up on the three droids. She sighed in relief as the droids were destroyed and watched despondently as young Anakin was flown out of the hangar. She decided to have a go at her boyfriend's favourite pass time,
She smirked at Qui-Gon, "Travien has taken a real liking to that boy, you know that, right?" Qui-Gon paled as she carried on, seemingly unaware of his distress, "And I dread to think of what Shmi is going to do to you." She giggled as Qui-Gon almost passed out on the spot at the thought of having both Travien and Shmi after him. She could see why Travien thought that this was so much fun to be honest.
She briefly wondered how Travien was doing but she could sense him clearly through the Force and knew that he was alright. She got up from behind her cover,
"Come on, those droids mean that Gunray knows we're here. We can't afford to let him get away. Everyone follow me. Padawan Kenobi, stay with Eirtaé and the Queen, Master Jinn, come with me." The force users nodded and the entire group followed Padmé into the Palace itself. They walked along the corridors silently until they saw a group of battle droids and Padmé charged forward, her lightsaber blazing and charged straight into the fray. She noticed the Jedi beside her and smiled as she let herself flow into the fight and embrace the battle. It was a skill that Travien had taught her months ago. She grinned as she felt the miniscule pressure of her lightsaber carving through one droid after another.
The conflict was soon over with the droids left in a pile of broken parts and inanimate hulks on the floor where a few of them had been shot by the Naboo Security Forces. She pulled back from the fight just as the large doors at the end of the corridor opened revealing a large number of battle droids and two more destroyer droids. Padmé's eyes widened as she dived into cover along with the others. She took a couple of deep breaths.
"Suggestions?" she said calmly.
Sabé nodded, "Take half of the guards and find another route. We can stay here and keep the droids busy letting Gunray think we are still here and pinned down while you capture him."
Padmé looked at her, "There's a chance that you won't walk away from this, are you sure that you're willing to risk it?" Sabé nodded,
"This is more important than one of us." She said.
Padmé nodded solemnly, "Master Jinn, remain here. Captain, let's go." Panaka nodded and turned to a window, raising his Guards blaster pistol he blew away the window opposite. Padmé deflected a few shots as she ran across the hallway and climbed on to the window ledge. She grabbed the guard pistol that Panaka had given her. She hadn't yet gotten to the point where she could make that jump. She raised the pistol and fired the ascension gun that had been attached to it.
She jerked as she was lifted off of her feet along with the guards who were accompanying her. The journey was quick and Padmé was impressed that such a small device could lift a person, not all of her guards were exactly small after all. She stood aside as Panaka blasted the windows. She smiled, it was both endearing and annoying that Panaka would pretend that she needed things done for her. They walked into the corridor and found that almost all of the droids had been diverted.
She saw the Throne room up ahead and ran for it. She had to slow down so that the guards could keep pace and they reached the room easily enough, finding the two Nemoidians, Nute Gunray and Ruune Haako standing there. She broke out into a run and the guards followed her, her lightsaber flying back into her hand and activating. She walked into the room with a victorious grin,
"Viceroy, you are under arrest." She said smugly. She frowned in confusion when Gunray just smiled but soon understood when she heard the metallic footsteps and the grating sound of droids. Looking around she saw over a dozen battle droids and two more destroyer droids. She lowered the sabre with a glare at Gunray who smiled happily and dropped it as he ordered.
"Now, your majesty, we will discus the treaty." He said smugly.
Padmé snarled at him, "I'll never sign your treaty. You may as well stop wasting your breath."
Gunray drew himself up, "We have methods for making you agree." He said with a sadistic grin.
Padmé snorted, "Oh I dare you. Torture me. Travien would never let you die once you do that."
"A mere child does not scare me." He replied pompously. At that moment his attention was distracted. A group stood in the doorway and Gunray swore,
"This one is an imposter! That one is the Queen! Catch her!" he screamed. Padmé pulled two blasters from a hidden compartment and threw one of them to Panaka. She took the heads off of several droids before calling to the Captain while Gunray looked around in confusion,
"Captain, seal the doors."
He nodded and closed the doors and Padmé turned to the Viceroy with a look of rage on her face. She activated the lightsaber in her hands. The guards knew that this was not supposed to happen but they couldn't turn a weapon against the Queen,
Padmé glared at him, the hatred and rage she felt were all coming to the surface, suffusing her very being as she felt the suffering, pain and death that her people were suffering even now. She snarled at him,
"Perhaps Viceroy I should simply forget about even bothering to negotiate with you." She snapped.
"You cannot do this!" he cried, "There are laws!" he shouted desperately,
Padmé snorted, "As Lord Shan would say, I am simply performing a weapons test on a terrorist combatant." She said happily as she swung the lightsaber. There was no time to process anything as the large doors to the Throne room ripped open from the middle and a blur hit Gunray just in time to move him out of the path of the lightsaber, taking the hit from the blade. Padmé screamed as he fell and raised her blade again.
Travien was running and running hard. The Force was screaming in his ear and he was trying to follow Padmé's trail. It was hard because the pain coming from just about everywhere was immense, between that and his fight with Maul he was beginning to lose his cool. He found himself in a large corridor, there was a lot of debris and several dead Naboo guards lying there in Sith armour. Gods, was that ever a familiar sight. He walked over to a window that had been blasted out and saw the Padmé had been here, there was carbon scoring near the window but it was the wrong shape to have come from the droids and none of the Naboo soldiers were as bad as he was with a blaster, it had to be a deflection. That at least meant a lightsaber.
He stepped out onto the ledge outside the blasted window when he noticed that some of the glass had been broken on the spot. Not as it landed but as though it had been trodden on afterwards. He took a deep breath and jumped upwards, only just making it to the ledge above. He took a few moments to get his balance when he noticed that he could feel Padmé's presence. She was angry, but that was understandable given the circumstances. He hopped in from the outside when he saw the doors to the Throne room close. He frowned and noticed that Padmé's presence was darkening. He gulped and tried to reach out and talk to her but she wasn't listening. He began running for the door, building the Force up into his hand. Just before he reached the double doors he let the Force go in a narrow push which blasted the doors open.
He charged through and saw Padmé about to kill Gunray. Okay, it's Gunray, but he's unarmed and practically begging for his life. Travien jumped and pushed Gunray to the floor, unfortunately Padmé's lightsaber passed through his right eye as he did so, leaving a cut both above and below the eye. Travien rolled as he hit the ground and came up with his lightsaber active, which was fortunate as it was required to defend himself against Padmé's follow up attack,
"Padmé! Stop!" he shouted. Padmé glared at him as she held her lightsaber against his, Travien was terrified to see a slight yellow tinge to her eyes,
"WHY!" she screamed, "Why shouldn't I kill him?!"
"Because he is unarmed, kill him in cold blood and you will be everything you ever hated." He said calmly,
"Oh so you get to kill in cold blood?!" she snarled, "It's alright for you to be a murderer but not me?!"
"YES!" he roared at her, finally losing his temper, "Yes it is! I am a mass murderer, I have destroyed worlds. I have a kill count with fifteen bloody goddamned figures and I remember the name of every man, woman or child who has ever fallen to my blade!" he screamed back at her, "YES! I can do that. That's what I am, what is I was born and raised to be! You're better than that! You're better than me!" He slumped and stepped backwards, moving his lightsaber away from Padmé's and to a position across Gunray's throat. He sighed, "You want him dead, fine. Say the word, but tell me what the difference is between this and HK-47 first."
Padmé looked at Travien as he held a lightsaber to the Nemoidians throat. It was the first time she had seen him anything other than confident. Even when he had no idea what to do he was confident. She looked at his face and saw a gash going through his eye that was pouring blood down his face. She could tell that it was a lightsaber injury but it looked recent. Then she realised, she had done that to him. Her lightsaber would have blinded him if it had been possible. She dropped her lightsaber and it deactivated before it hit the floor. Her arms fell slack to her sides and she let go of the Force.
"D…don't kill him." She said weakly. They then heard a message over the communicator that Panaka was carrying,
"The droid control ship has been destroyed. I repeat, the droid control ship has been destroyed." There was cheering in the background as everyone listening began showing their relief and celebrating as they heard another voice,
"The droids are shutting down. The battle droids have all deactivated!"
Travien smiled at Padmé as he de-activated his lightsaber,
"We won, Padmé. We won."
She nodded and approached him slowly. Reaching out with a hand she went to touch the open wound but Travien grabbed her hand, "It's a little painful love. Let's just leave it be for the moment."
Padmé nodded and regained her composure before turning to the Viceroy, who was still lying on the ground, "I think we will be discussing a new treaty Viceroy."
He nodded frantically and Travien smiled around the room, "By the Force, we actually did it. I'll be honest and say that I thought we were all going to die."
Panaka looked at him strangely, "You weren't worried about that?"
Travien shrugged, "I'm kind of overdue." Padmé just chuckled quietly and hugged him.