Leia could sense her Master was back on board the ship as she docked her smaller craft. Time for a confrontation she really did want to do, but needed to be done if they were going to keep up the moral of their forces. Leia followed the presence of Maul until she found him standing on the bridge. Walking up to him she asked "Master, may I have a moment?" Maul turned to her and acted as if she hadn't said anything to him as he said "Ah, Darth Keeran, how was your journey, any luck?"
Leia sighed in exasperation before replying "No Master, now may I have a moment of your time?" Darth Maul turned away looking displeased, as he muttered to himself "So not there either, still so many possibilities…" Leia cut into her Master's thoughts as she practically shouted "Maul, we need to talk!" That got her Master's attention, though not in the way she wanted. He back handed her before she felt it coming as he screamed "I am your Master and I deserve to be treated with the respect of one!"
The members of the Dark Forces in the room either made a hasty retreat from the room or made themselves as small and as inconspicuous as possible, trying not to draw attention to themselves lest the wrath of Maul fall on them. Darth Keeran didn't even reach out to hold her stinging cheek, she knew it would anger her Master even more if she did so and she needed him to calm down a bit so she could confront him about abandoning troops.
Spitting out a bit of blood that came from a cut that she had gotten by accidentally biting her cheek, Darth Keeran said "Apologies Master, but I really must speak with you in private." This seemed to appease Maul and so he agreed to leave the bridge and go into one of the small conference type rooms they had to discuss whatever Darth Keeran wanted to discuss.
Once secluded in one of these rooms, Darth Keeran said "Master, the moral of the troops is low and it will get even lower if we abandon them in battle, some might even forsake our goal if we do so." Maul frowned and said "Your talking about the men I left behind after killing the Jedi aren't you?" Darth Keeran shook her head and said "Not just them Master, everyone feels like we are fighting a losing battle, that we came out of hiding a bit too soon for the numbers and strength of our forces. If we leave a battle without protecting them, without fighting for them, we are just making a bad situation worse. We need to boost our low moral before it becomes our undoing."
Maul was quiet for several long moments as he consider Darth Keeran's words. Finally he said softly "You are right Darth Keeran, we need to lead our men carefully, they do not have the same passion and drive as us." The way he worded it worried Darth Keeran a bit, but she was not prepared for what he did next. He swiftly turned and barged out of the room, his anger practically flowing off of him as Darth Keeran rushed after him.
He forced pushed anyone who got in his way as he once again entered the bridge, Darth Keeran hot on his heels. "Master, what are you doing?" she questioned but Darth Maul did not hear her over the rage fueling his every move. He pointed at the biggest ship in their fleet and said "It is full of traitors, shoot it down before it takes us down!" "No!" shouted Darth Keeran, but no one heard her over the barrage of weaponry that was sent flying towards the ship. It's occupants had no time to react before the ship exploded.
Maul pointed at another and said "That one too!" Darth Keeran watched in horror as he took out their whole fleet. The few remaining ships had banded together to try to survive, but most were too afraid to fire back, lest they survive only to die at Maul's hand for attacking his ship. Soon the space around the craft was just full of ship pieces and bodies as the last ship exploded. Darth Keeran was kneeling on the floor, shaking with fear of her Master and what he had just done as he knelt down beside her, "Now we have eliminated any possible threat to us and our goal. The men on this ship are fiercely loyal and will continue to be so."
Darth Keeran looked around at the men as Darth Maul exited the bridge, as they realized what they had just done. The realization that they had just exterminated many men who were actually loyal to Maul and not traitors left them stunned and she could sense that this was something they would never get over doing. Oh yes the men on this ship may be loyal, but it would only be the fear of Maul that kept them such. The moment something proved that it may even possibly be stronger than her Master or herself, these men would have no problem turning on them.
Darth Keeran stumbled to her feet and wandered the hallways aimlessly. Maul had already left on another venture to who knows where, taking the Inquisitors with him, and she could sense his presence slowly slip away. Never had Leia ever felt so lost even with her Master around, never would she have thought him capable of doing what he did. As she passed the hanger she saw the majority of the Inferno Squad entering The Corvus. She paused to watch them do so, knowing that they would not be returned.
The Inferno Squad's commander, Iden, turned to look at Leia with a look of determination to show she was willing to fight her even if she died so long as it meant her men made it off safely. Leia simply nodded at her then continued on her way. She would stop no one who wanted to leave the ship, to leave the Dark Forces. She radioed the bridge to say that all ships that left were on missions and were not to be shot down. Even if she had requested them to be shot down, she doubted the men on the bridge could have pulled themselves together in order to do so.
She heard The Corvus leave, the first of many that day, and she did nothing. She wasn't alone in the watching, there was one watching her. Gideon Hask had not left with his team, feeling they were in the wrong and he was stunned to see Darth Keeran do nothing to stop them. So he watched her, overhearing the orders to let all ships leave freely. He would report what he overheard and saw to Darth Maul on his return, hoping that this would cement him a place high in the ranks of the remaining Dark Forces.
So sorry for not updating in a while. Honestly I have been discouraged on the lack of people reading and liking this story. It usually doesn't bother me but I've put so much thought and quite a bit of planning into this story (like the ending I've already had planned since the first story, lol) that I guess I'm just taking it a bit harder than usual and have felt like what's the use of updating if no one is reading. But I am trying to kick the blues away, as you can see. I have a busy summer coming up, so I can't promise I will be actively posting, but I will try to get up chapters a bit more often than I have been.
Anyways, this chapter was supposed to be Rowan's, but I couldn't help but do Leia as I wanted to show her and Maul interacting a bit sooner than her next chapter. You may have also noticed that half the time I wrote her as Leia and half as Darth Keeran. I wanted to show how the whole when I'm near him my destiny is clear thing is effecting her. Like when she was speaking as Darth Keeran, that was when she felt more like Darth Keeran and vice versa.
How come she reacted to Maul's killing the forces the way she did if she is more Darth Keeran in those sections, you are probably wondering. She may feel more like her destiny is clearer, but she isn't totally insane like Maul. She has her background of being a Jedi where the troops are important and would never be treated that way too, which is why she even confronted Maul about his behavior in the first place. Just as being conflicted doesn't stop her from doing bad things, it doesn't stop her from doing good. She is not a grey Jedi, but she also isn't pure evil either.