Maya-202!
A Star Wars-Inspired Story!
Episode I
The Two Prince War
Chapter XVIII
A Wild Bantha Chase
AN: Hi all! This eighteenth chapter is more to set up the next parts of the plot, but I hope you will enjoy nonetheless! 😊
General Grievous was more than annoyed that he had let the filthy Jedi escape his clutches. Thankfully, his Prince Thomanius hadn't grilled him too hard about it – in fact, he had been quite charismatic and had given him new instructions. The prince had told him that Aren was apparently on the planet Iryx to battle Onasius, thanks to Darth Scald sending him on a wild bantha chase. All Grievous had to do was wait for when Aren revealed himself and was vulnerable.
"General, we are approaching Iryx," a pilot droid alerted him.
Grievous chuckled to himself. "Excellent. I want informing the instant anyone sees the Jedi's craft!" he bellowed.
"Roger Roger," the droid replied. Grievous wasn't going to let the scum escape this time.
In a matter of minutes, they emerged out of hyperspace to see the lush green planet in all its glory. General Grievous knew he had to be careful – he was in a Nightmare Order dreadnought, and presumably these dreamtroopers would recognise that instantly and begin an attack.
"Stay high enough to avoid the dreamtroopers' radar. They must not see us, otherwise they will more than likely try to take us down," the General commanded furthermore.
"Roger Roger, General. I'll take us down far enough to still spot the Jedi's ship but remain undetected by enemy scans," the droid informed. Grievous didn't respond immediately – instead he let out another stream of coughing, followed by a slow, quietish groan.
He followed up with a lengthy, drawn-out, "Good."
Sith Council Battleship, Karanda System
"Master Thomanius, my apprentice. I am growing impatient – how long have we got until your team have completed construction for the bomb?" Darth Sihlo wondered with a tone of frustration in his voice, clasping his hands together as he sat in his exquisite seat for the Head of The Sith Council.
"My Lord, my team of engineers have started work. The world-splitter should be ready very soon. I promise," Prince Thomanius insisted. His master exchanged a glare with the Baroness.
"It is an ever-growing concern of the council that you may not have been the right decision to take control of this plan. Baroness Kotorinah's plan is beginning to appear like a more and more favourable plan by the moment," Sihlo hissed in his deep, almost demonic voice.
"Her plan relies too much on politics! Getting people to turn on the Jedi like she suggests? Never gonna happen," Thomanius snapped, causing Kotorinah to scoff in response.
"But her plan is clear-cut! Her plan does not require moving our entire team and wasting our valuable time. Not to mention, your brother and his army are still standing. They pose too big a threat and they might halt the production," the Master responded, raising his volume. "And don't you dare speak like that to me! We helped you, remember? Not the other way round. I am your Master, but I could just as easily deject you and find a new apprentice. Don't forget that – and do not fail me again, Lord Thomanius," he added, shrieking at the top of his long-ago decayed lungs.
Thomanius gulped, "Yes, Master."
"You are dismissed," Sihlo waved him off and turned away from the prince who had been at his knees bowing to him for the entirety of their conversation. Thomanius got up and walked away, all the while sneering at the Baroness who was smirking.
"Don't mess it up, this time, your highness," she taunted smugly. Thomanius would have force-choked her there and then if his Master hadn't been so desperate to keep her around. He found it strange that Darth Sihlo held the Baroness up in such high regard, never telling her off for anything she'd done, considering she wasn't even Force-sensitive, nor was she Sihlo's apprentice, unlike Thomanius. It was ever-so-clear that all her quips at the prince were born out of a jealousy for him – she was begging to possess force powers, you could see it in her eyes. But she didn't have them. She was no more than an ordinary being, no more special than a deathstick dealer in the shady alleyways of Coruscant's lower levels, and she obviously hated this. However, this gave Thomanius a vengeful glee. He left the room in silence, choosing not to respond to Kotorinah's remarks, and beckoned Lieutenant Fearful who had been standing at the door watching on and waiting for his prince, to come with him.
"Well, Sir, pardon me for saying, but that didn't go very well," Fearful commented as the pair strolled down the same halls they had seen many, many times before.
"You're telling me. Although, when you look at it, Lord Sihlo didn't kill me like I was expecting when he summoned us here, so there's that I suppose," Thomanius muttered, pulling down the hood of his midnight black Sith robes.
"They still don't know about Aren, though. What if they find out?" the Lieutenant reminded him.
Thomanius sighed, taking in a deep inhale of breath. He found himself wishing he'd been strong enough to kill Aren back when he had the chance – the mess he had gotten himself into because of it would've never rose to prominence. But his affection for the man had taken over. "My Master thinks I'm starting to become too weak to be a valiant Sith. I could sense it in there – and I'm beginning to think he's right. If they discover Aren is still alive… we're doomed," the prince said. Suddenly, his commlink began buzzing. He answered it, greeting the caller with "General Grievous, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I thought you would be pleased to know, my Lord, that we have arrived at Iryx, and are searching for the Jedi's ship now," the droid leader notified.
"Good work, General. If you catch him… kill him this time…" Thomanius trailed off with a wicked smile.
"I will get it done. It would be my honour," General Grievous chuckled, and then spat out three coughs in a row.
Prince Onasius' Mansion, Iryx
"Maya, this is not a good idea!" Prince Onasius warned, but for the first and likely only time in her life, she shrugged him off.
"Don't worry, your highness. I have this under control," Maya affirmed.
"Who are you?" Aren questioned.
"My name is Maya-202, and I'm here to stop you from hurting my Master," she stated with a stern expression.
"Your Master is the one who needs to be stopped. He's the one that's hurting people," Aren glowered at the prince.
"Whatever Thomanius has told you about him is a lie. I promise," Maya assured him confidently.
"I don't believe you, and your Master is unwilling to confess his wrongdoings," the blonde man scowled.
"Because I haven't done anything!" Onasius yelled.
"We'll have to let the Jedi Council decide on that – I'm taking you to them, and I'll explain everything that's happened," Aren plotted, but Maya wasn't gonna let that idea become truth.
"My master has done nothing that the Council will disapprove of. Now back off!" the trooper ordered assertively. Onasius was surprised – it was like Maya was almost a completely different person. Not the reserved soldier following her highness' instructions that she had once been, but a leader, someone that was taking charge and showing determination. And then Onasius felt it – the awakening.
"Oh my force…" he mumbled, and turned to Leo, who was still sat next to him. "Maya is…" he began, then drifted off.
Leo had an unsure grin on his face, guessing that his master had just found out about Maya's force-sensitivity – "I'm sorry, Sir. I didn't want to tell you about it – I didn't feel it was my place," the soldier revealed.
"No, no. It's… it's fine… I'm just… bewildered…." the prince stuttered. Thoughts were racing through his mind now, pondering how Maya had gotten to be that way – not that he felt it was necessarily a bad thing, either.
Aren must have sensed it too, as a sharp look of realisation crossed his face for a short period of time, before he flicked back like a light switch to being angry again. "Oh, I see. You're not just any typical soldier, are you?" he said, baring his teeth aggressively.
"Leave, or else… or else I'll have to make you," Maya replied, paying no attention to his last comment. This guy clearly wasn't going to leave without getting what he wanted – he drew his lightsaber once again.
"Argh!" Onasius winged as he tried to get off the ground but the earlier push had left him exhausted still, and it didn't help that he had hit the back of his head when he landed, causing it to bleed slightly. As a result, he did the only thing, and it may have been an incredibly stupid thing looking back on it, that he could think of to help right then.
"Maya!" he called and tossed her his lightsaber, activating it with the force in mid-air. She stumbled, but thankfully caught its hilt, taken aback by the abrupt awareness dawning on her that she, Maya-202, was going to be holding a lightsaber.
"I don't know how to-" she complained anxiously, waving it about like a child with a toy.
"Just trust yourself and you'll be alright!" Onasius interrupted her.
"I don't want to murder an innocent soldier. But if you protect this man, I'll have no choice," Aren threatened.
Maya glanced back at her master, who was still lying on the floor, Leo's arms holding him up.
"Bring it on," she accepted, narrowing her eyes.
The battle that followed was a spectacle. It was like the most overdramatic fight scene from an action holomovie one could imagine – stones were flying everywhere yet again, Maya and Aren were smashing their sabers together, all amidst the chaos of dreamtroopers that had chosen to help their peer in the fight by trying to shoot the blonde guy, who was somehow still strong enough to be able to freeze their blaster bolts and reverse them. Luckily, they dodged out of the way, and none of them were seriously injured (although a fair few had unfortunately been partly scraped by the bolts).
Nobody knew how, but after what had seemed like an everlasting string of combat between the pair, Maya was standing, even if she was nearly out of breath. But Aren also appeared to be getting tired now – "How… how are you still up?" he asked her, panting. In all honesty, similarly to everyone else watching the battle, Maya didn't know. But she wasn't planning to tell him that, as it was clearly getting on his nerves. She suspected he had presumed that a simple trooper would've been an easy win for him, but it wasn't. Although it equally wasn't gonna be an easy win for Maya, either, and she was certain of that. Aren saw his opportunity – he launched himself through the air and swung his lightsaber at Maya; but it didn't work. Maya anticipated his move in the nick of time, as she leapt to her left just as he was about to strike, leading to Aren crashing onto the floor and the trooper rolling into safety. Before the former Jedi could do anything else, Maya stood up in front of Aren, who was sprawled out on his belly, quite like her master, and snatched his yellow saber that was beside him with a rapid movement. Aren crawled up and turned around with weariness in his eyes, wanting to strike back.
Maya stopped him by pointing both lightsaber blades that she held at his neck in a cross formation. "Now, let's talk like civilized lifeforms, please," the soldier enjoined light-heartedly with a sarcastic grin.