Chapter One
Dawn of The Empire
Writer's Note:
In 1999, the Star Wars prequel trilogy began and we were introduced to a new villain, the Sith Lord known as Darth Maul. He did the bidding of Darth Sidious and faced a young Obi-Wan Kenobi on Naboo before being struck down, never to be seen again afterwards.
But then, over a decade later, Maul returned from the grave due to his popularity. Resurfacing in the 2008 Clone Wars series that was set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, Maul got cybernetic legs and sought revenge against Obi-Wan.
Then, the Clone Wars came to an end and Maul's fate was up in the air, until he resurfaced in Star Wars Rebels... and was finally put down for good by Obi-Wan on Tatooine. Then he appeared in the Solo movie... which was set before Rebels.
Maul has had a long story, from his apprenticeship to Darth Sidious to his path of revenge in the Clone Wars and running a criminal empire after Order 66 before finally being taken down again by Obi-Wan, the rogue Sith has been famous among the fans for years.
But what was Maul's story during the Era of the Empire before he met Ezra and eventually fell to Obi-Wan (again)? What adventures did he endure, how did he get his new lightsaber and when did the Shadow Collective/Crimson Dawn fall?
Our story begins... Now.
Darth Maul belongs to Lucasfilm/Disney, prepare yourself, Star Wars fans.
19 BBY, the final hours of the Clone Wars,
The Tribunal
*Note: Part of this is an abbreviated version of events seen in The Clone Wars show*
Chaos, just as Lord Sidious wanted. This war, the Republic and the Jedi Order were all ending in chaos! He survived in it and had once played a part in it. Maul himself had created chaos many times, he'd done it to take control of Mandalore and now, he was doing so to escape.
Maul casually strolled down the hall, keeping balance as the floor shuddered and sparks flew everywhere. After destroying the engine room, he knew that it was time to escape. A blue blaster bolt streaked by him, fired off by a trooper who'd spotted him.
Hardly skipping a beat, the Zabrak called on the force and choked the clone. He closed his fist and the armored soldier dropped to the ground as his neck cracked, the stolen com-link on Maul's wrist beeped and a clone said, "We're going down, the ship is going down."
"We have our orders." Jessie's voice said, "Eliminate the Jedi and Maul, no matter the cost."
Out of the corner of his eye, Maul spotted a group of clone soldiers racing down a hall towards the hanger. Surprisingly enough, none of the clones even noticed him.
Click-click-click! "Target sighted!" Three clones came around the corner and aimed their blasters at Maul, ready to fire on him just like the others were willing to do so. But before they could shoot, the former Sith used the Force to grab one of the blasters into his hands.
BAM! Maul shot the first clone in the head and the trooper dropped. "ZECKAR!" The other clone cried, showing concern for his brother. BAM! "AH" A blaster bolt hit the second clone in the knees and he fell, Maul grabbed him by the neck and tossed the clone into a wall.
The rumbling intensified and Maul felt another massive explosion jolt the ship. He turned another corridor, knowing that he was getting closer towards the hanger where he would find the perfect escape cruiser that he would steal for his escape...
KERVEET! "Sir, Maul might be headed your way!" The black-red Zabrak warrior's yellow eyes blazed as his mind thought of the clones who were in the hanger, he didn't care if they were waiting for him as long as she caused enough chaos for him since he'd done so for her.
More rumbling and more sparks flew, Maul could not walk anymore. He had to run, he dashed down the corridor towards the door that would lead to the hanger. BLAM-BLAM! A group of clones fired on Maul, attempting to shoot him down as he ran past.
Running didn't take long; the door was in sight. The Zabrak approached and the door opened wide, allowing him entry into the hanger. Maul heard blaster fire and lightsabers humming, he saw that she was there, deflecting blaster bolts while a clone seemed to fight by her side.
'So, Tano somehow managed to sway one of them back to her side.' Maul thought, he smiled as he thought about the prospect of leaving Ahsoka and her ally to their fate along with the other clones aboard this pathetic and doomed ship.
He saw the hanger doors were open and spotted the shuttle that was parked nearby, with the clones distracted from stop him, Maul was in the clear. Without a second thought in his dark mind, he ran towards the shuttle as fast as his cybernetic legs could move. But then...
"MAUL!"
Yellow eyes blazed with anger as the distance closed and Maul turned to see Ahsoka racing towards him, her lightsabers blazing. "YOU!" He snarled, "This is what you wanted, you wanted me to create chaos and I created chaos! You will not stop me!"
He reached out with the force and threw a crate at her, even as Ahsoka ducked under it. Maul threw a ladder, which did nothing. She slashed at him with her lightsabers, missing by inches as he dodged. "Perish with the others!" Maul shouted and thrust out with the Force.
"Ah!" Ahsoka flew backwards and tumbled across the deck, even as she plunged her lightsaber blades into the floor to stop herself from sliding further. With the distraction taken care of, Maul reached the shuttle and got to the pilot's seat.
He pressed buttons and flipped switches, listening to the sound of the engines humming to life. Maul pulled on the throttle and the Republic Shuttle lifted off, he steered the ship towards the doors open above, seeing that the cruiser was fast approaching a moon.
'Farewell, Tano!' Maul thought with a triumphant smile on his face, but just as he was about to clear the hanger... He felt a jolt, it felt as though the ship was having a malfunction. Then the former Sith realized, 'She's trying to stop me from escaping, pathetic!'
Maul pushed harder on the throttle and the engines built up even more, he was pushing against the former Jedi's Force grip. 'I... will... ESCAPE!' The horned warrior thought with an angry scowl and, before he knew it, his patience paid off...
The rogue Force-User found himself leaving the hanger with nothing to hold him back, Tano must've decided to let him go and relaxed her force powers. 'A pity we may never meet again so I can thank her.' Maul thought, 'We could've been allies against Sidious, but alas...'
Not bothering to waste any more time, the Zabrak flew out into space and began punching coordinates into the ship's navi-computer. He fixed his yellow eyes on the stars and let go of the ship's controls for now as the hyper-drive activated and the shuttle jumped to hyperspace...
-Hours later-
Dathomir was a sight to behold, even after the Separatist invasion and the extermination of the Nightsister clan, the planet was still incredible in the darkest sense of the word. This was Maul's home; this was his domain and now one of many new bases for Crimson Dawn's operations.
Maul had parked the shuttle outside the Nightsisters' sanctum and was meeting with one of his Mandalorian followers there, Jork Mozt; Jork had been residing on the planet for days prior to the Republic's invasion of Mandalore and never bothered to return and help with the fight.
Jork and Maul weren't the only ones here. Len'zar Krok, a Twi'lek criminal who'd recently joined Crimson Dawn, had joined them along with others such as Kaia, Mar'ron, Rak'kala and Onive Filave from various branches of the organization in various Outer Rim systems.
Everyone was sitting around a table, listening to a Holonet radio that Rak'kala had brought for Maul and the others. As far as Maul was concerned, he wasn't going to just use the Force to tune into galactic news, he was going to access the Holonet.
It had been hours since the Clone Army had turned against the Jedi and Maul could sense that what remained of the Republic government was about to change, instead of meditating to see the events happening, he would be using the Holonet on Dathomir to see and hear the news himself.
So far, the Holonet broadcaster had announced various news events such as the destruction of General Grievous, the Jedi's "attempted coup" and the recent deactivation of the droid army. Now, the Holonet was about to provide coverage of a special Republic congress session.
Onive slapped the radio as static filled the speakers while Kaia adjusted the signal receiver, Maul eventually put his hand on her shoulder and assured his associate that the signal would clear up when the Holonet radio had picked up on "Lord Sidious' grand speech".
Eventually, the static stopped and everyone was all ears as the voice of Darth Sidious' came over across the Holonet itself, almost loud enough to be heard all over the planet just as it was being heard by millions across the galaxy...
"Denizens of the galaxy and senatorial congressmen of the Republic Senate, for a thousand years our Republic has stood as a crowning testament to civilization and democracy. But our freedom has been tested, challenged by those who wished to bring us down to our knees.
"The Separatists were our greatest enemy, supported by those who rebelled against our founding democracy. Only I could pacify the situation, across the galaxy, our forces of the Grand Army of The Republic fought hard to stamp out the threat and protect our borders.
"For years, the war has changed and challenged us in many impossible ways. Just hours ago, what we thought was our greatest ally, the Jedi Order, attempted to overthrow the Senate and seize control of the Republic..."
A roar went up from an assembled crowd on the radio as Maul clasped his hands together over his mouth, Mar'ron was trembling and Filave was silently processing everything. Maul had foreseen this, for years, he'd experienced visions of Sidious' New Order speech in the senate.
Seconds later, the speech continued, nearing the conclusion that many never saw coming while a handful like Maul truly had...
"They attempted to take my life, just as the Separatist Alliance has tried to crush our democracy, and they paid with their lives. Our heroic Clone Legions have worked to quell the Jedi uprising on a thousand worlds, for that, may we salute their efforts.
"Now, it is morning in the Republic and we stand on the threshold of a new beginning. The war is over, the Separatists have been defeated and the Jedi Rebellion has been foiled. The remaining Jedi shall be hunted down and defeated!
"The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed, but I assure you that my resolve has never been stronger. In order to ensure the security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized INTO THE FIRST GALACTIC EMPIRE for a safe and secure society!"
'So, a new era begins as the old one ends...' Maul mused as billions across the galaxy and in the Senate went wild, 'With millions accepting the New Order and with me not a part of it, but soon, my time will come to strike at the scourge of the Empire after we gather our strength.'
Kaia deactivated the Holonet radio before anything else could be said. "So, I guess this is it?" Len'zar commented, "The Republic and the Jedi are gone, there's only the age of the Empire now and we'll be taking advantage of the chaos that is the galaxy being remade."
"Yes." Maul said in a low growl, "Let Sidious have his victory, he has his Empire and his new Sith Apprentice. Soon, when the time comes, we will be the spark that ignites the fire that will burn the Empire down and pave the way for the demise of my former master..."
