Maul fired at Krakko.
“Stand down!”
Maul pretended he didn’t hear Krakko over the blaster’s report. He felt the blaster start to overheat but kept firing.
And then an amplified voice from above bellowed, “Cease fire!”
Maul lowered his blaster as he looked up. He saw an airspeeder approaching. Trezza was behind the airspeeder’s controls. The Falleen’s expression was outraged.
Maul knew Master Sidious would be even less pleased.
“You’re not entirely to blame for what happened,” Sidious said, his face lost in shadow beneath his dark blue cloak.
Maul stood before his Master on the stone floor in the cavernous main hall of the fortress at Blackguard’s Gorge. After Trezza had treated Maul’s wounds and informed him that his Master had already arrived on Orsis to observe the exercises, he had traveled by speeder bike from the academy to the fortress. Because he had been repeatedly told not to reveal his powers, he knew his punishment would be terrible.
“The dark side has taken a serious interest in you,” Sidious continued. “And is gauging if you might be a proper vessel for its power. Seeking expression and loathing restraint, the dark side tests us continually, competing with our will and our need for secrecy.”
“Yes, Master,” Maul said. “I was overcome.”
“Overcome?” Sidious’s eyes blazed beneath his cowl.
Maul looked down at the stone-cold floor.
“I said that you weren’t entirely to blame,” Sidious said bitterly. “The willingness of the dark side to cooperate in your pitiful demonstration doesn’t exonerate you from breaking your vow to me and from jeopardizing my plans.”
Maul had not wanted to disappoint his Master. He wanted to apologize and ask for forgiveness, but he knew if he did, his punishment would be even worse. And then he thought of how long he had suffered on Orsis because he had not been allowed to use his powers, and he felt his shame transform into rage. He looked up at Sidious and was about to speak but his Master made a pinching gesture. Maul felt his throat constrict.
Sidious walked a few steps away from Maul before he released his remote grip on Maul’s throat. Looking back at Maul, he continued, “You have called unwanted attention to yourself. The Jedi have been continuing to harass Trezza for creating assassins and proxy armies, so consider what might have happened had a Jedi been present during the exercise. A Jedi would not only have grasped that you are strong in the Force, but that you have received training in the dark arts, endangering my position.”
Maul felt crushed. He thought of all his years of training, his constant effort to please his Master. He reflected on the exercise that had ended at the chasm, tried to imagine escaping his tormentors without using the Force, but he knew his thoughts were pointless. He could not undo his actions.
“Now,” Sidious said, “what did you wish to ask me earlier?”
Speaking tentatively, Maul said, “How long must I go on being one thing here and another there? Trained in the Force here, and trained to do without it there? What are your plans for me, Master? What am I to you?”
Sidious sniffed. “You are my student, Maul, and one day you may become my apprentice.”
Despite all that his Master had taught him, Maul knew practically nothing about Sidious. How had Sidious obtained his wealth or gained so much knowledge of the Force? It was a mystery to Maul. For all he knew, Sidious was a warlord, a sorcerer, a monarch, or even a banished Jedi Master. Maul said flatly, “Your apprentice.”
“Perhaps. But if that is meant to be, it will come at the end of many trials that will make these present ones seem insignificant. Removed from the shelter of Orsis, you will begin to understand that the Republic is built on deceit, and that it only survives because the Jedi Order wishes it to survive. You will need to be resolute in your allegiance to the dark side of the Force.”
Maul nodded. “I understand, Master.”
“No,” Sidious said. “You only think you do.” From the folds of his dark robe, he produced two lightsabers. He tossed one to Maul, then ignited the weapon that remained in his own hand.
Maul ignited his lightsaber. From the look in his Master’s eyes, he guessed that the burns he was about to sustain would be much more painful than the ones he’d received from Meltch Krakko’s blaster.
He guessed right.
A week later, most of Maul’s wounds had healed as he prepared for the Gora. He was in the Academy barracks, modifying his combat vibroblade’s ultrasonic vibration generator, when Kilindi and another female cadet, Daleen, walked in. Daleen was a dark-haired human, slightly younger than Kilindi, and rumor had it that she was the princess of a royal house.
Kilindi said, “Meltch came looking for you.”
Maul glanced at the doorway. “Where is he now?”
“Up top, I think,” Daleen said.
Maul knew “up top” meant Orsis Orbital Station. He also knew it wasn’t unusual for Meltch Krakko to be there, that the Mandalorian instructor occasionally met with off-worlders at the station. But in the past week, Maul had begun to wonder if Sidious and Trezza had conspired against him, if they had encouraged Krakko to push him beyond his limits, all in an effort to find out whether Maul would break his agreement and use the Force. Now, he wondered if Sidious and Krakko ever crossed paths on Orsis Orbital.
Kilindi said, “Want any tips on what to watch out for in the Gora?”
Maul shook his head as he returned his attention to modifying his vibroblade. “I’ll make do.”
Kilindi laughed. “That’s what I said, and look where it got me.” Turning around, she shifted her head tentacles to display a relatively recent set of scars that crisscrossed her muscular arms and shoulders. Although bacta treatment would have erased all her scars, Kilindi kept them as proof of her experience.
Grinning at Maul, Daleen said, “Just don’t get lost out there.” She reached out and gently rubbed the back of his head, careful not to touch his horns. “We’re cooking up a surprise for your return.”
Kilindi and Daleen walked out of the barracks, leaving Maul wondering what they might be up to. Generally, Maul did not like surprises, as few in his life had been pleasant. But as much as he had been looking forward to the Gora, he now looked forward even more to seeing Kilindi and Daleen when the Gora was over.
The first day of the Gora was beyond intense.
The second day was even more brutal.
The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth days were increasingly bloody. And Maul was having the time of his life.
Countless wild predators kept him constantly occupied as well as sleepless. Except for his heightened senses and physical strength, he did not use the Force in any obvious way. With his vibroblade more often in his hand than in the sheath strapped to his upper leg, he moved like a jungle animal through the forests and grassy swamps that filled the enormous crater, killing some beasts in self-defense, some for food, and others for sheer sport.
Never had he known such freedom. After years of obeying others while containing his rage, he was able to run and hunt and kill as he pleased. By the seventh day, he almost regretted that his journey across the Gora would soon be over.
And then the storm hit. The clouds seemed to roll in from out of nowhere. Within minutes, torrential downpours and hurricane winds hammered at the jungle, turning ground to mud and tearing trees from the ground. The Gora had been dangerous enough with bloodthirsty creatures lurking everywhere, and Maul began to wonder if nature itself were trying to kill him.
Scrambling over fallen trees and trudging through flooded swamps, he made his way through a thorn forest to a rustic outpost, his final destination in the Gora. Once he reached the outpost, he could call for an airspeeder to return him to the Academy. He was eager to see Kilindi and Daleen again.
The storm began to die as Maul left the thorn forest and emerged at a broad savannah. He knew the outpost wasn’t far, just beyond the grasslands that stretched out before him. But as he
began to move across the savannah, he heard footfalls from the forest.
Llian beasts, he determined. Llians were large creatures with spined tails, and although they didn’t travel in herds, it sounded as if at least three were heading straight for him. As he drew his vibroblade, he scanned the grasslands, searching for a length of wood so he might quickly improvise a lance. But no such wood or deadfall was in sight.
Four llians burst from the forest, and Maul was surprised to see each beast bore a rider. The riders were slim humanoids dressed in red, hooded garments. Each was armed with an energy bow and pike.
Maul did not recognize the riders, but knew at a glance they were formidable warriors. Although he felt the dark side of the Force swell within him, he did not summon his powers to defend himself. He suspected that Master Sidious had sent the warriors to test his loyalty and commitment.
The llians moved around Maul. Three warriors drew their energy bows and fired glowing arrows at Maul, not to strike him but to drive him back to the fourth mounted warrior who had moved up behind him. Maul dodged the arrows but was knocked backward by an invisible force, and then yanked off his feet so he was suspended upside down in the air a full meter above the ground. The vibroblade fell from his hand.
Inverted and immobilized, he saw the fourth warrior dismount. From his upside-down perspective, he saw a tall, silver-eyed female with a pale face that was adorned with angular black tattoos. Below her high-peaked red hood, a shieldlike hexagonal medallion appeared to be affixed to her unusually high forehead. A trove of talismans and amulets dangled around her thin neck. As she walked toward Maul, tapered streamers shifted behind her robe, moving like tendrils with a life of their own. “Don’t resist, Nightbrother Maul,” she said. Her voice was deep, with a most unusual accent.
Maul sensed the Force about her. He was certain she was in league with Sidious, possibly an apprentice. Before he could respond, she made a gesture with her hands and then extended one long finger to touch his forehead.
Maul plunged into unconsciousness.
He awoke groggily, feeling drained, as if he had been robbed of the Force. From the noise and vibrations around him, he knew he was inside a small spaceship. Shifting his fingers to his upper leg, he felt the empty sheath to confirm his vibroblade was gone.
He opened his eyes. He was lying on an accelerator chair in the main cabin of a drop ship. Pushing himself up, he saw the woman who had rendered him unconscious. Apparently, the woman and her fellow warriors were so confident in their strength that they had not bothered to cuff or shackle him.
“You are skilled, Maul,” the woman said from her own seat, “but perhaps not as skilled as I was led to believe.”
Maul sneered. “That seems to be the common opinion lately.”
The woman’s eyes widened slightly. “Very revealing. A few moments ago I was thinking that I erred in coming so far and in risking so much to return you to your clan brothers. And yet I sense that you are strong in the Force.”
“I have no brothers,” Maul said sharply, as if he found the word distasteful.
“Ah, but you do. And once among them your life will be very different. On Dathomir, you will be nurtured and trained as the Winged Goddess and the Fanged God meant you to be trained. When the time is right you will face the Nightbrothers’ equivalents of the Tests of Fury, Night, and Elevation. And should you pass those trials, you may be fortunate enough to be transformed into an extraordinary warrior. Your strength will be enhanced tenfold, and those puny horns that stipple your head presently will become long and lethal.”
Maul had stopped listening as soon as she’d mentioned Dathomir. Sidious had told him about the Nightsisters, the Force-using witches who ruled that world. He thought of his most recent meeting with his Master, a week prior to the Gora, when Sidious had cautioned him that “beings of all nature” would attempt to deceive him, to fill his head with lies. There was no question in his mind that the witch who had captured him was associated with Sidious, that she was either deliberately or unwittingly testing Maul. He refused to become a pawn in their game.
“I won’t be going to Dathomir.”
The witch raised an eyebrow. “You’ve no interest in seeing your birth world or meeting the members of your Nightbrother clan?”
“Neither.”
The witch frowned. “You are fated to serve us, Maul, one way or the other. It has always been thus.”
Staring hard at the witch, Maul said, “I serve only one Master.”
The witch smiled without mirth. “The Falleen you answer to will have to find another.”
The Falleen? Maul was confused. Was she under the impression that Trezza was his only Master, or was she toying with him? He considered mentioning Sidious by name, but decided against it.
A red-garbed Nightsister stepped into the cabin. She was armed with an energy bow and a sheathed energy sword, a fixed-blade weapon that resembled a glowing lightsaber. Maul recognized the Nightsister as one of the warriors who’d attacked him in the Gora. Like the seated witch, she had pale white skin and a tattooed face, but Maul noticed she was younger and did not have such a high forehead. The Nightsister said, “Mother Talzin, we are approaching the station.”
Talzin nodded but kept her eyes on Maul. “Can I trust you to behave while we transfer to our vessel, or do you wish simply to awaken aboard it?”
Maul glanced at the young Nightsister’s weapons. “For the moment, you have the upper hand. I won’t make trouble.”
“Of course you won’t,” Talzin said soothingly.
Maul looked out a viewport and saw they were approaching Orsis Orbital Station. A moment later, the drop ship shuddered as a tractor beam locked onto it. As the tractor beam eased the ship into one of the station’s docking bays, Maul considered his limited options.
He knew that the station’s cargo and passenger hubs were linked at several points by air lock corridors. If he could break away from the Nightsisters and get to another ship, he might be able to return to Orsis before anyone at the Academy realized he had left the Gora. He would prove to Sidious that he would not be taken so easily.
The drop ship touched down in the space station’s large, dimly illuminated cargo bay. As Maul walked with Talzin and the three Nightsisters down the drop ship’s boarding ramp, he was struck by a sudden feeling of apprehension. Talzin must have sensed something as well, because she turned to look at him, as if he might be the cause of her concern.
Maul said, “Trouble.”
Sensing he was being watched by hidden life-forms, Maul scanned the shadowy corners of the high-walled cargo bay. Without any prompting from Talzin, the three Nightsisters drew their swords and enabled their energy bows. Talzin stepped away from her group, moving out into the middle of the cargo bay as if she were not worried in the least.
“Stay right where you are and lower your weapons,” a gruff voice barked from the cargo bay loudspeakers. And then the life-forms emerged from shadows. Leathery-skinned Weequays stood amongst large-headed Siniteens, all armed with blaster rifles that were leveled at Maul and the Nightsisters.
A towering figure clad from head to foot in garish battle armor moved to the center of the cutthroats. He was a Vollick, a native of Rattatak, an Outer Rim world infamous for its gladiatorial death matches. A remarkably large blaster was holstered to his hip. Each of his arms looked as if they weighed more than Maul’s body.
“You won’t be returning to Dathomir, Mother Talzin,” the Vollick said. “The five of you are going to be my guests on Rattatak, where you will eventually become members of my elite army.” He drew his enormous blaster from its holster and fired a shot at the bay’s tall ceiling. “Our weapons are set on stun, but we’ll shoot to kill if you decide to refuse my invitation.”
Maul wondered how the Vollick warlord and his soldiers had known Talzin would be arriving on the space station, and then he wondered if the Vollick might be Talzin’s accomplice. Talzin said nothing. She raised her hands as if in surrender, the
n extended her fingers.
Maul was surprised to see dozens of Nightsister warriors materialize from the sidewalls and upper levels of the docking bay. However, he instantly sensed they were insubstantial, that the new arrivals were nothing more than a powerful Force illusion created by Talzin. The warlord and his soldiers fell for it. They rapidly reset their blasters’ selector switches from stun to full power, angled their weapons away from Talzin, and opened fire at the apparitions. Genuine blaster bolts and illusory arrows began crisscrossing the bay.
The real Nightsisters drew their energy bows and began launching very real arrows at the Weequays and Siniteens. They dropped several soldiers before Talzin’s conjured illusion evaporated unexpectedly. Maul glanced at Talzin, saw her frustrated expression, and wondered if she had complete control of her powers.
“Cease fire!” yelled the startled Vollick. “Cease fire!” But his men ignored him and turned their weapons on the genuine Nightsisters who remained in the bay. As Maul ducked for cover, he saw a Weequay blast one of the Nightsisters at the same moment that a Siniteen fired a shot that tore through Talzin’s thigh. The Nightsister dropped her energy bow as she collapsed. Talzin stumbled and fell on the deck several meters away from Maul.
Maul considered running back into the drop ship, but he doubted that it had sufficient power to escape the bay’s tractor beam array. And looking at Talzin sprawled on the deck, he also began to wonder whether Sidious wanted her dead. He thought, If this is a test, it’s for keeps.
He ran toward the fallen Nightsister, leaping and tumbling across the deck until he reached her energy bow. He didn’t have to look at her to know she was dead. Snatching up her weapon, he darted back to the drop ship, took cover behind one of the landing struts, and began firing back at the warlord’s men. Talzin was still lying on the deck. The two remaining Nightsisters had moved beside her and were unleashing a barrage of arrows at their opponents.
Maul scanned the cargo bay. Recalling the space station’s layout from previous visits, he visualized the shortest route to a neighboring bay where he hoped to find another drop ship. He was still working with his rough plan to return to Orsis before anyone dis-covered he was missing. Although he would have accomplished this goal more easily if he used the Force, he did not want to disappoint his Master again. He was about to make a break for the nearest hatchway when he heard Talzin call out, “Don’t leave us, Maul!”
Lives & Adventures Page 36