Chapter Eight
"Brother, the coordinates to Ruusan from here are still accurate. His Majesty even said Nyx-based companies make regular shipments of durasteel extract and cortosis ore. In addition, he can schedule us a flight on one of those ships headed for Ruusan in three days," Savage said to his brother when he met up with them again. "That's good Savage but we're not headed there just yet, we'll need to ask him if they ever export that stuff to Coruscant so I can get the Scimitar back from it hangar assuming my Master was wise and kept it there," Maul replied when he had a spare moment.
Kycina was tired from another day of using her magic to create more potions at the reservation Laertes had made for them in his Grand Palace. Maul was tucking her into bed when Savage arrived and delivered the news to him. "Why are you so interested in that ship and I know it isn't just its invisibility cloak?" Savage asked. "It's been my sole transport for every mission I have been on in the name of my lord, I have a special connection to it as a result of that," Maul answered.
Savage shrugged then left to sleep in the reserved room made to accommodate him due to his massive stature and night habits. When Kycina asked what the noises were coming from, Maul assured her it was just Savage being a lady's man in the old fashion manner: seducing a girl for one night and taking away any virginity she had for life. "Will you tell him that's bad for his health if he does it too much, please?" Kycina whispered, trying to be a mother even though she was tired. "I will when the morning comes, he'll be too busy tonight for me to lecture him," Maul replied.
"Tell him now please," she demanded, though her exhaustion made it barely more than a mumbled whisper of a demand. Maul chuckled and said he would then she fell completely into sleep and didn't come back out for at least eleven hours. Though he had told her he would tell Savage to quit screwing the first woman to give him the cue, he never did because he knew it wouldn't persuade Savage not to do it. Instead, he took a look through the sacks that Kycina had tied to her belt and found something he never expected to see again in one of them: the dolls she had used to represent him and his brothers during her madness.
Perhaps she had foreseen something where they would be involved and wasn't telling him. He didn't bother to ask her as he had faith she would tell him when she was ready. They so much to talk about when the matter of revenge against Kenobi and Sidious was over and they were alive anyway. Perhaps this would be just one more thing for them to discuss with Savage once they had gone into hiding.
But Maul had one last thing to do before he could worry about sleep. He had to call Kenobi again and tell him when to meet him on Dathomir again. Kenobi, if you can hear me reply immediately. Can you head me Kenobi? he asked through the Force.
Kenobi felt the familiar entry of Darth Maul into his mind and listened to what the fallen Sith Lord had to say this time. Then he heard Maul say, Kenobi, if you can hear me reply immediately. Can hear you hear me Kenobi? Obi-Wan thought about how to reply to that then replied in the most obvious way possible.
I hear you my old foe, have you decided when we will meet again? Obi-Wan asked. Meet me on Dathomir before the end of one standard week. There might be a little wait involved but I will be there to fight you again Maul answered. Then it is decided, I fight you again and must I be alone again? Obi-Wan asked, remembering what happened last time Maul told him to come fight him alone.
No, my brother Savage will not intervene in this fight. It will be the true battle between you and me Maul said. Then I will see you at the end of one standard week for our final battle against one another to see who is greater. Does the loser die in this? Obi-Wan asked. Perhaps and perhaps not Maul said.
Obi-Wan tried to inquire as to what he meant but Maul did not reply. It would appear that Maul had let go of at least some of the hate and vengeance he had first felt when he had first been returned to the galaxy seeking Kenobi's head with his brother's help. Whether Obi-Wan could call that a respectable characteristic of his enemy or not was beyond him but he remembered to ask him one single question. Would Qui-Gon have insisted that Maul be forgiven even though he was the one Maul gutted all those years ago?
In the morning, Maul and Savage requested to have passage on the next ship to Coruscant so Maul could retrieve Scimitar. "If you're looking outside the center of the city, I've got a ship going to Sector 179B-290P3 near an entrance to the criminal Underworld," Laertes said. "That's perfect, we can disappear without a trace if we slip into the Underworld until we're near the Scimitar's place of rest. The Jedi won't even suspect we're there until we've taken the ship and left," Maul said.
"Keep in mind that two massive Dathomiri Zabraks (especially this one) walking around with a small human woman are going to stand out. How are we going to avoid the attention of the criminals once we've securely thrown the Jedi off of our trail?" Savage asked. "One criminal's death can secure that you're left alone for an entire section of the Underworld unless it's someone prestigious or is done in the domain of someone prestigious amongst the scum," Maul answered. "And if that were to happen, what then?" Kycina inquired.
"Is there a spell you can use to throw them off guard until we have escaped?" Savage asked. "Good idea, I was about to ask that myself," Maul agreed. "I can wipe out their memory but that will only last until we have escaped. It's not powerful enough to do any permanent damage to their minds," Kycina answered.
"Good enough for me, we'll hopefully be flying back to Ruusan with the ship by the time they remember our appearance or close to it at the very least," Maul said enthusiastically. "But why avoid the Jedi, are they not our enemy and hunting us down at any rate?" Savage inquired curiously. "As much as I do not deny they are our enemy, I don't want unnecessary confrontation with them until I can lure Obi-Wan out to Dathomir by himself. Any sooner than that and any other way would be pure suicide or capture for all three of us," Maul said, adding Kycina's magic wouldn't do good against the Jedi once they were captured.
"I may be powerful but I'm not sure how many Jedi I could kill before one of them reached me and took my staff or worse, killed me. Unlike Mother Talzin, I have some reservation in taking even a single life in self defense," Kycina admitted. "Very well, is this goodbye forever like I thought the last goodbye had been?" Laertes asked. "Hopefully not but who knows what will happen?" Maul answered.
"I'm glad to have seen you again anyway, old friend. No matter who thinks you otherwise, you are a hero of Nyx and will be treated as such whenever you visit our honorable planet," Laertes said to him. "Thank you Your Majesty and I must say something now: I'm sorry," Maul replied. "Sorry for what Maul?" Laertes asked before seeing Maul's expression.
"It won't be long now before the power of the Dark Side is used to aid us," Talzin said. "What makes you so certain of that, Mother?" Ventress asked. "Once Maul regains his ship Scimitar, he'll use it and its invisibility cloak to travel to Ruusan, completing his mission," Talzin answered. "An invisibility cloak, how big is the ship?" Ventress inquired.
"Longer and sleeker than a Separatist vulture droid but about the same width, why?" Talzin asked. "Normally, no ship that size has a cloaking device but it would seem this one is an exception," Ventress answered. "It matters not so long as Maul, Savage, and Kycina make it to Ruusan and free Skere Kaan and his fellow Sith. With the power of the Brotherhood of Darkness, these brothers and their mother will at last fulfill the destiny Savage began when I sent him in search of his brother," Talzin said.
"So he did come to you after he fled the Separatist Dreadnaught above Toydaria," Ventress stated. "Yes and he was severely wounded from blaster bolts fired by the battle droids Dooku ordered to shoot him after he turned on you and Dooku. I healed his limp and the damage to his abdomen before he went on his way, his eye healing along the way and his most damaged horns settling into cauterized stumps forever," Talzin told her disciple. "Then why did Savage fight me over Raydonia and why do you want him to ally with me just to traditionally consecrate our bond; couldn't you have given him direction not to attack me?" Ventress asked.
"You are not innocent in the manner of him attacking you there. Remember that you mocked him about still being the animal he was when he served you then chastised his brother by saying that he was 'half the man' Savage was," Talzin answered. Ventress admitted guilt on that end and asked why the red bars on the sides of the gates seemed to increase in their size with each passing minute. "The souls of the dead on Dathomir are being slowly absorbed into the energy source fueling this city's magic and that does include the souls of the Nightsisters who were massacred by Dooku's minions from Karis to Old Daka," Talzin explained calmly.
"Does that include the soldiers in the Army of the Undead as well?" Ventress asked. Talzin nodded and added that being the ones dead longer, they were being the first to be pulled into absorption of their power before facing oblivion. "That seems to cruel a fate in exchange for the power they have to offer, don't you think?" Ventress asked Talzin rhetorically. Talzin shook her head, saying that any measure necessary to avenge their fallen sisters against Dooku and then take over the rest of the galaxy was neither cruel nor unnecessary.
"In order to achieve such a galaxy-altering goal as ours, equally great measures must be taken. There is no such thing as victory without a cost in any battle whether it'd be in the mind or not," Talzin told her. Ventress could relate to that since she led plenty of Separatist victories and knew all too well that they could sometimes cost her dearly. After that discussion, Ventress decided it was best not to press the issue any further and watched as their time to enter the tower came closer and closer.
"I'll have your strongest drink straight up," Savage said to a bartender deep in the Coruscant Underworld. "My dear son, must you really drink whatever disgusting stuff he gives?" Kycina whispered after Savage was served his drink. "It's part of looking normal in this forsaken part of Coruscant," Maul interjected. "If this is normal while we're here, I think I'd rather take my chances standing out from the crowd," Kycina said.
"You're actually doing a good job of a normal woman in these parts so keep it up, mother," Maul said to her. Kycina shrugged and told Savage she still didn't like him drinking though she knew she could do nothing to stop him from doing so. But Maul helped by admitting that he believed she was right about Savage having to be careful lest he perform poorly when forced to use his lightsaber or the Force. Savage promised to have only two cups then he would drink no more for the rest of the filthy night.
"Hey hot stuff, you want to go up to my room and have some fun?" a pirate asked Kycina, the alcohol reeking his breath. "I think I'll pass," Kycina answered before using some of the magic from her staff to blow his head off. When everyone in the bar stopped to look at the mess she made, she warned that if anyone else asked to have some fun with her they would share the same fate. "Can we ask one of those big men with you, miss?" a prostitute in the back asked her.
Before Savage could speak, Kycina put her foot down and said no. "Your woman is strict yellow guy, you sure she doesn't want you for herself?" the whore asked Savage. "I'm pretty sure my mother wouldn't want me for herself in that disgusting way," Savage answered. She flipped him off then walked out but for once, Savage was glad he had his mother to stop him from taking that woman up on her offer.
Though he didn't mind doing it from time to time, Savage began to realize that he found no solace and no rest in getting laid with the first prostitute that asked him. He was almost getting low on credits and since his Separatist accounts had been deactivated as a result of his treason, it wasn't like he was going to get another withdrawal like he did last time. It was exactly why he pulled out all the funds he had while his accounts were still active and carried them around in the most portable ways possible: attaching them to his belt and in a concealed pocket under his shoulder plates. To make things more interesting, his credits were all unmarked thus not revealing his true allegiance whenever he made a purchase or paid for something important.
One time, he made a trip to the doctor when he got a chance and while he was lucky to have no STD's from any of his encounters something else was wrong. According to the doctor, he had higher amounts of testosterone than was healthy for someone of his species and stature. "As it is, your size is unique to Iridonian Zabraks unless you're not Iridonian," the doctor had added. "I haven't even heard of an Iridonian Zabrak, I'm Dathomirian," Savage had told him.
"In that case, you're even more unique than all my other cases with Zabraks," the doctor had replied with enthusiasm. "What can I do to get rid of it?" Savage had asked him. "If you have a mate on Dathomir, it is said the males are cursed to never be sexually satisfied until they have united their flesh with the mate that selected them. You could give that a shot if you're a lady's man back on Dathomir," the doctor had explained. Savage never thought about that comment afterwards until now and wondered if it was indeed true; only Talzin would know.
"Something troubles you Master," Grievous said to Count Dooku. "Yes, I have no idea how powerful Kaan is and I have not used Battle Meditation very much. Perhaps it's best we call in someone who would have a better idea of it than I do. Contact Sora Bulq and tell him I wish to see him for a very special assignment," Dooku said.
"He knows how to deploy Battle Meditation for our benefit?" Grievous asked. "Better than I would, yes. Don't delay anymore General, find him and tell him he must come to Serenno for his assignment," Dooku ordered. "Yes Master, I will contact Sora Bulq immediately," Grievous said before walking off to obey Dooku's simple command.
After that, Dooku had a moment to himself for the first time in a while and was glad he did. Indeed it would be a while before he had another private moment once this attack had begun commencing. That is, if commencing ever had to begin and for his master's sake, he hoped not.