Chapter Six
"Dooku, we cannot let Maul and his brother gather enough strength to hinder our plans. Assemble your mightiest fleet and hunt him down at once, understood?" Sidious ordered. "Master, a fleet would not be able to find him without a hint of where he could be," Dooku replied. "It does not matter, find out where he is and destroy him before he has a chance to fight me!" Sidious demanded.
"As you command Master, I will have General Grievous assemble the best droids for a fleet. We will divide to scan the planets within our range and destroy him before he can threaten you," Dooku vowed. "No don't divide the fleet, I want it ready and assembled when he is found that way you can destroy him quickly. Have every planet in our territories and the territories of our allies on full alert for Maul and/or his brother," Sidious demanded.
Knowing he lost that battle, Dooku moved on to a suggestion of his own. "If our finest fleet is not to do anything until he is found, then lure him into a trap where the fleet will wipe him and his brother out from the face of the galaxy?" he politely asked. "No, I trained Maul too well to not fall for something as simple but treacherous as that one," Sidious said. Helpless and out of ideas, Dooku began making the arrangements for Grievous to prepare the finest fleet in the CIS.
"Mother, is there any way we can safely undo the thought bomb orb and release the souls trapped in it for our own purposes?" Maul asked Kycina when it was agreed she was no longer mad. Once she threw the dolls away, they knew for certain that she was not mad and could now ask her about the thought bomb on Ruusan without risking injury to her or to them. "One thing's for certain, you'd need to keep a safe distance while doing that as the shield itself would surely explode and release all the thousands of souls simultaneously. Then you would need something that could invoke such a phenomenon such as my staff for example," Kycina explained.
"Are there any special chants you have to say in the ancient Sith or Nightsister tongues?" Savage asked. He was remembering how Talzin had chanted in an Ancient tongue when she healed Maul's insane mind before also adding his artificial lower body onto him. "No Savage, I merely have to speak to their leader through the Force and call on his hatred for the Jedi in order to release them but as nonphysical matter, they will be of no use to us unless they find bodies. Their original if possible but if not, anybody closely related to the design of their original works as well," Kycina explained to Savage.
"In that case, we will need to leave for Ruusan and the sooner we do that the better," Maul said. "I will need the manuscript written by Exar Kun about how to undo the effects of the thought bomb. It's not a very large one nor was it one that managed to escape the Jedi at the price of entering the mercy of the elements and of time," Kycina replied. "What are we waiting for, let's get the manuscript and leave Felucia at once," Savage demanded.
"If you're in such a hurry, return to the town you started your search for me and ready your cargo ship. Otherwise, wait until I've found the manuscript and then I can clear a rancor-free path all the way back to town," Kycina replied. Savage snarled quietly and Maul smiled at his mother's already-adjusted maternal tone. She had not seen her sons since they were babies and she was treating them like little children though they were in their thirties.
Or so Maul could say for his brother Savage due to his impulsive and oftentimes sloppy nature. "Do not be too harsh on him mother, his mind is a little… direct when it comes to these things if that is the right word to be used," Maul said in his brother's defense. "I know that, your fathers were the same way when I selected both of them to be my mates," Kycina replied with a smile as warm as Maul's had been. "Then we'll wait for you to search for the manuscript then head on to Ruusan where the souls of the ancient Sith await us," Maul declared with enthusiasm after a moment of cheerful silence.
"I'll also need to bring my staff and some other potions that I made during my time here on Felucia. Speaking of the potions, I think it's time I gave you two the one that will be most important for our journey," Kycina said. "And that would be?" Maul inquired. "It's a special mixture I made that gives he or she who drinks it totally immune to Talzin's Spell of Undoing, a spell so powerful even the Gods of the Old Dathomir feared it," Kycina explained.
"Spell of Undoing? Old Dathomir? What are you talking about?" Savage asked. "To explain the Spell of Undoing, it is what it sounds like: it can undo any enhancements Talzin made to your body and to your connectivity to the Force as well as your skills with a lightsaber if powerful enough," Kycina answered.
When neither Savage nor Maul had anything to say, she continued to answer the other two questions. "Before the raise of both Light and Dark Sides of the Force, ancient Gods once controlled the Force and used it to control all life in the universe. In what would become Dathomir, there was a goddess who Talzin is named after that controlled two beautiful planets. One was called Dathomir (which is the one we know to this present day) and KaiSu Lak'Ton; it means 'World of the Goddess' in the Dathomiri tongue that Mother Talzin and myself can speak very fluently," she explained.
"What happened to this old world?" Savage asked. "Dathomir and KaiSu Lak'Ton were connected to each other through a city. It was called 'Gateway to Eternal Life' in the ancient tongue but because of its power and its connection to the worlds via a massive tower, it was consumed by the earth. The gods and goddesses of the universe sacrificed their powers and lives to contain Talzin's namesake on KaiSu Lak'Ton and banish it to another dimension where it remains even now," Kycina answered.
"I sensed a tremor on Dathomir shortly after Savage and I left. Could it be that Talzin raised the city from its underground prison?" Maul asked his mother. Her eyes shrunk until the pupils could barely be seen and her face went pale. Then she said, "Talzin is crazy enough to do that, I hope for all our sakes that it isn't the case."
"What are we waiting for Mother? Why not just enter the tower now and call the old world back to our dimension now?" Ventress asked. "Because in order to unlock the gate to the tower (never mind call KaiSu Lak'Ton back to this dimension) I need the deaths of thousands of Dark Side users as their souls are the key to unlocking all of it," Talzin answered. "Is that why you are allowing Maul to go and resurrect the ancient Sith Lords that formed the Brotherhood of Darkness, a thousand years ago?" Ventress asked her.
Talzin nodded and added that it was the only way to harvest enough souls to open the gate and call the old world back to this dimension once they arrived at the top of the tower. "I am almost finished with Maul and Kycina but I still have use for your mate, Savage Opress," Talzin explained. "That monster forsook me and ran into the galaxy, why would you want him to serve you and have me to that as well?" Ventress asked, obviously frustrated. "Because enemy or not, Savage is your selected mate and you two must consecrate your bond in order to bring us one step closer to achieving the goal I have strode for during the last thirty or so thousand years," Talzin answered.
"What does consecrating my bond to Savage have to do with unlocking the powers of the old world?" Ventress demanded. "A single act of lust was all that it took to give the Goddess the power to control her worlds without interference from the other gods. It will be another single act of lust that gives her the power to bring the old world back here," Talzin calmly answered her. Ventress shuttered but did nothing to protest Talzin's decision to have her consecrate her mating bond with Savage next time he returned to Dathomir.
"Found the scroll, time for us to head to Ruusan and free those trapped souls," Kycina said to her sons. "Indeed it is but first, we need some coordinates to the planet that are up to date just in case the ones I have in my notes on Sith history are no longer valid," Maul said. "Who do you suggest we go to for that kind of information?" Savage asked. "We're going to pay the visit I never got to pay and had hoped to pay when we went to hide in Falleen: we're going to planet Nyx," Maul answered.
"We're meeting this Laertes character you said was their king when you went there twelve years ago?" Savage asked him. Maul nodded and said to Kycina that he would explain everything about Nyx along the way. "It's a long flight to Nyx even with the hyperspace on our ship at full power. I'm trying to see if I can fix it at some point plus we'll be needing fuel anyway and Nyx is a good place to replenish the fuel supply," he added.
"There should be some extra fuel in some of the crates in the cargo hull as the last pilot of this ship delivered fuel and other supplies across the Outer Rim," Savage said. "If it's the right type of fuel for the ship, that may work but we have to make sure it's suited to the ship and not just starfighter quality," Maul replied. "What's the difference?" his brother asked him. "Starfighter fuel burns quicker and it requires high quantities of the fuel to pilot the ship for as long as space battles take," Maul answered.
"If anything good came out of your time with Sidious, I may have to say that it has to do with your knowledge of ships and other machines. Where did you learn such dizzying facts?" Kycina asked. "I used to have my own person starfighter called Scimitar, a Sith Infiltrator with the most powerful cloaking device in the galaxy. On every mission, I took it to the planets involved and had to fuel it quite frequently until I customized it to conserve its energy resources," Maul explained.
"Is it still functioning, I mean with you having been presumed dead by your Master and all that?" Kycina asked. "It would be impossible for Sidious to throw it away without anyone picking up on it later. He'd have to keep it in its hangar if he wanted no one to suspect the return of the Sith," Maul answered, shaking his head before talking. Then he added that that hangar was in the heart of the Republic, Coruscant, which would mean immediate detection now that their ship was recognized as theirs.
"That means dumping it at Nyx or Ruusan once we free the ancient Sith Lords," Savage said. "Most likely at Nyx since we can trust it will be destroyed upon request from me unless Laertes is no longer the King or someone supporting or related to him isn't in power now. Last time I went over there, there was a rebellion against Laertes' rule as King of Nyx and my Master sent me to protect him from the rebels," Maul agreed. "Then let's hope the will of the Force decrees that he or one of his supporters rules over the planet," Kycina said.
"My Master, the fleet is assembled. Shall we wait until someone reports Maul and Savage's presences in one of our planets or on one of the neutral worlds?" Dooku asked. "Yes, wait for such a report then destroy them even if you have to destroy that entire planet," Sidious answered. "If I may ask Lord Sidious, why are you so afraid of repercussions from your former apprentice?" Dooku inquired.
"I have no idea what you mean to know by asking that," Sidious replied. "Are you afraid Maul will seek you out and attempt to take his revenge on you for abandoning him on your homeworld?" Dooku reiterated. "I am indeed for I have trained him far better than I have trained you in the ways of the Dark Side. He may be more powerful than I even if he only has half the strong body he once had under my service," Sidious answered.
"Perhaps Master it would be best if you came with me to whatever Maul is next reported at and aid in the efforts to wipe out Lord Maul and his monstrous brother. Your connection to him will help me confirm whether or not he is still alive after we have completed our efforts to destroy him. My link to Savage can help confirm his death as well so with both of us present, we can both honestly tell each other they are truly dead," Dooku suggested. "I will think on that apprentice but it is indeed a very good idea," Sidious said.
When Sidious' hologram faded out of existence once more, Dooku scoffed at his Master's paranoid fears of Maul destroying him. Why would Sidious, the most powerful of all the Sith Lords, be afraid of a former apprentice coming to end his life? Why wasn't he looking forward to the challenge Maul and Savage offered instead of cowering away like a little bitch? "I will destroy Maul and that creature Savage myself, my Master is too girly in his fears of Maul to be trusted," he thought to himself out loud.
Then he summoned Grievous and told the General may have some use for him in the task of eliminating the Zabrak brothers. "My Master is too fearful of Maul to be allowed to confront him. If anything, Sidious will likely give into his fears and let Maul have the upper hand as he would want. In addition, if he unleashes the souls of the Sith trapped on Ruusan as a rather reliable spy has told me, I will be the only one powerful enough to counter the effects of Kaan's Battle Meditation," Dooku began.
"Do you wish me to infiltrate Lord Kaan's ship and end his life while you have him distracted with the usage of Battle Meditation?" Grievous asked. "Yes General, take four MagnaGuards with you in case he is protected then cut him down when he is alone. It is the only to put an end to Maul's threat for certain and assert that we are the true order of the Sith in our own galaxy. The way I am seeing it, two problems will be eliminated in one brilliant stroke if all goes to plan during this attack on Maul and Savage Opress," Dooku answered.
"I will handpick the best of my guards to assist us in this matter. It will take only the very best to ensure the death of Kaan and the end of the ancient Brotherhood of Darkness for certain," Grievous vowed with enthusiasm. "Do not expect the Jedi to intervene in this matter except to capture one or both of the brothers but if they do intervene, kill them," Dooku ordered. "With my usual undying pleasure, it shall be done immediately my lord," Grievous replied.
After many hours on the cargo ship and updating Kycina on what happened to Maul, the trio finally arrived. The door opened to the air of Nyx and Maul knew who was greeting him right when he saw him: King Laertes from twelve years ago. "Hello Maul, welcome back to Nyx. We've been expecting you," the greying King told him with zealous enthusiasm.