Star Wars - Artoo Detoo: Droid of a Kind (Volume 1)

by Mark A.J. Cristobal

  Lieutenant Hoff Siege’s N1 Starfighter hovered a few meters before him and made a soft landing. Behind the empty cockpit Artoo swiveled his dome and whistled at him.

  “Great shot Artoo, but don’t get cocky!” he smiled and climbed at his ship.

  Siege and Artoo climbed up as the rest of the droid starfighters made the attempt to follow them but a number of N1 Starfighters suddenly burst out from the ion storm and fired at the trailing enemy ships.

  “Yihaa!” Siege cheered as his surviving team made a tight formation around him.

  “Look! It’s a Trade Federation warship!” cried out one of the pilots.

  “Look at the size of that thing!” exclaimed another one.

  “Cut the chatter, we’re leaving!” Siege, back as Raid Lead ordered.

  Artoo whistled at him.

  “Alright Artoo, do the honors.” Siege said.

  Behind them as they enter the ion storm, the massive grounded Trade Federation Lucrehulk-class battleship exploded.

  Moments after they were out of the atmosphere of Rori and into the blackness of space, Raid Squadron regrouped and headed home to Naboo.

  “Raid Squadron, we still have two hours to get cleaned up, eat breakfast and refuel, we have a Coronation to attend!” Lieutenant Hoff Siege announced.

  Behind them at the far side of Rori, a single Corellian freighter jumped into hyperspace.

  Chapter 7: A Clone’s Fate, an Animal’s Hate

  Five hours earlier, back in Theed, Captain Magneta and Lieutenant Panaka along with two other Palace Guards have taken the clone of King Veruna into the rarely used Interrogation Cell in the Palace Detention Building. The authenticated data provided by Artoo Detoo were reinforced by the recovered datachips from the Mootoo Cave ruins.

  The Queen personally gave the initial interrogation on the captive clone but the prisoner only gave them vague details of the actual murder of the real King Veruna. Then she left Magneta to take over.

  “Speak clone, who created you? Who is behind all this?” Magneta scowled in annoyance at the unresponsive captive.

  The clone of King Veruna only stared at him with a smirk. It was a trademark of its original. Magenta would have back-off from that smirk from the original Veruna, but not to this one. The idea of copying his former king infuriated him. The clone was a powerful slap on his integrity, responsibility and honor. The clone in front of him is a tangible reminder of his failure as Captain of Naboo Security, as loyal citizen of Naboo and as a personal friend.

  Veruna’s little sojourn in the jungles a month ago was approved by him. He allowed the King his regular hunting trip, securing only the outskirts of the entire forest. The former and late king had specifically instructed him to stay off of the jungle until his return.

  He was so confident with his security arrangements that he agreed to let the king go in alone in the forest armed only with a projectile rifle to hunt for a zalaaca. Hours passed and the king was never found. Magneta led a search party that lasted a week until the king was found slightly injured and unconscious in one of the deeper caves with a carcass of zalaacas beside him.

  Magneta’s personal investigation led him to conclude that base on King Veruna’s testimony he shot his fifth zalaaca but was attacked by a narglatch in the cave. He was scratched by the beast but he shot it and the narglatch fled. He dragged his zalaacas deeper inside the cave to process it for trophy and meat but his wounds rendered him weak which resulted to fainting and suffer a week long comma.

  Magneta believed the king and he had no reason to doubt him. Now, learning that the thing he found on the cave was not the real Veruna but a lowly clone, Magneta felt insulted and shamed for not recognizing the real from a clone. Panaka tried to ease his frustration by stating that not one of them could have possibly known it was a clone. Magneta ignored his Lieutenant’s patronizing, for him he has lost face and worse, failed his king.

  Magneta punched the clone to vent out his rage and supplicate his wounded pride.

  Panaka’s comlink beeped and he stepped out to take the call. Moments later Panaka burst open the cell door.

  “Captain, space patrol spotted a Neimoidian ship coming out of the South Pole and bearing towards Rori!” Panaka exclaimed.

  “Handle it. I need to see this through.” Magneta said absently, Panaka doubt the captain had even grasped the import of this news.

  “Yes sir!” Panaka left and started calling their squadron pilots.

  “Guards, what will about to happen in this room must stay in this room, understand?” Magneta said menacingly at his remaining two companions.

  “Yes Captain!” the pair of guards chorused.

  Magneta left and when he returned, hovering with him was an IT-O9 interrogator droid prototype, a brother of the one owned by Riboga the Hutt. Such droids were illegal to the Republic. This one though was confiscated by Magneta during one of their raid against the Chommell Patriots in Keren City. King Veruna had ordered him to forge the documents of its decommissioning and keep the prototype hidden in case they may have use of such device in the course of their campaign against the self-proclaimed Chommell Patriots.

  “Ironic isn’t it? To use this very droid that King Veruna had me kept to use against a prisoner to talk, which in this case, you, his clone.” Magneta said and spat on the clone’s foot.

  “Alright, fine, I’ll talk.” the clone finally said but his voice were a bit hushed that Captain Magenta had to lean forward and down at his prisoner.

  “What?” Magneta frowned.

  The clone shot out his bound hands and rammed its steely fingers on the neck of Magneta who staggered back choking. The pair of guards raised their blasters and aimed but the clone leaped into the table, sprang up and slapped both blasters as the guards pulled the trigger. The green stun bolt hit squarely on each of the guards and they fell limp.

  The clone casually kicked Magneta in the temples rendering him unconscious and then checked his pockets and finally retrieved a key and removed his binders. He took his time to bind the three at each other around the bolted metal table, locked them including the droid in the Interrogation Cell wherein he killed the power connection.

  A single guard was outside and as the clueless guard turns around, the fist of the clone came at his face knocking him down. The clone changed his suit and took the uniform of the unconscious Palace Guard.

  * * *

  “My mother has this off-worlder friend. He is to take me away from this savage world. Mother says I will have a better life with him. I will talk to him, ask him to let me take you with us.” he said to her.

  “You promise?” her sad gaze looked up at him.

  “I always keep my promise.” he smiled at her.

  “First we have to get rid of this bull.” she pointed at the huge rancor blocking their only exit.

  “I can do that…”

  Darth Maul blinked back as he found himself staring at that same set of eyes.

  “Drifting in the middle of a fight are we?” the same voice in his thoughts mocked him. He looked at her, their blades locked in a contest of strength and force.

  “You are a burden. I cannot have you, and you were supposed to be dead anyway.” Maul growled.

  “I am a burden because I am a woman? You’re the one who is too eager to embrace me earlier, ah, the arrogance of men!” Sarc spat at his face and Force-shoved him.

  Maul countered her with his own Force-shove and they both slammed on the opposite walls of the dark chamber.

  Sarc moved with surprising speed and her blades were already coming down on his neck when Maul started to get up, he quickly swung up his weapon to intercept and her momentum made him take an involuntary step backward.

  Maul snarled and made a series of swings and strikes to disarm her but she was quick to block and counter his every moves. The Dathomiri hybrid suddenly pivoted and swung wide for his head. Maul raised the lower end of his double-bladed lightsaber to block but her blue blade winked off for a second and
as her movement made her hilt pass under his blade her weapon was reignited and nearly chopped his head off if he hadn’t reacted at once.

  He felt the heat of the blade scorched his cheeks and grazed his cloak. Pain shot through his shoulder as a glancing blow nicked him. Maul staggered away to reorient himself but Sarc was already moving for the kill.

  Unable to raise his blade defensively Maul released instead a concentrated Force-lightning at her. Sarc somehow seemingly anticipated that counter attack and simply crossed her blue and red blade to take in the impact of the electrified blast.

  Maul shot out his left hand and Force-choked her. She lost her focus and his lightning went to her chest but her adrenalin was at its peak and she ignored the invisible pain constricting her larynx and dropped her lightsabers so she could also give the Zabrak the same trick.

  Maul felt an unseen vise beginning to grip his throat and cutting off air from his lungs. Their eyes met; a pair of yellow-red to an odd pair of red and blue. Neither blinked nor gave up, both tightened each other’s chocking grip, Maul strained to maintain his hold and keep himself from fainting. She will not relent and he could see it in her orbs.

  Then Sarc’s eyes glinted with a sudden insight and her lips formed a feral grin. Maul frowned and tried to figure out what she intends to do next.

  Her other hand reach out to him and made a gripping gesture. Maul felt a sudden flood of immeasurable pain and lost his hold on her. He felt the pain originating from his heart. She is going to crush his heart!

  Maul fell on his knees, screaming in rage and pain. The hold on his larynx increased adding further agony. Sarc slowly moved toward him and when her face was barely an inch from his, she kissed him on the lips.

  His reflex was to kiss back, his mind wanted to hit her head with his but his body did not obeyed any of it, his muscles convulsed, his eyesight blurred, anytime now he know he will pass out and die.

  “You are strong my love and powerful in many ways. But you lack cruelty. Learn how to kill those you love without compulsion only then can you be a formidable weapon of the Sith. You are a rancor of Dathomir, you are an animal.” the Lady Sarc stepped back and released her choke hold on him but not on his heart.

  Maul panted, willing the dark side to protect him from the pain but unable. He tried to raise his head to look up at her and felt rage, anger, wrath.

  His heart was engulfed with the dark side of the Force, slowly plucking off her invisible grip. Lady Sarc intensified her hold and Maul screamed and fell on the pavement, writhing.

  Then she let go of him. The pain finally receded a little but lingered still.

  “Remember Lord Maul, your heart is mine to crush, as you have crushed mine long ago.” the Lady Sarc picked up her lightsabers and clipped it back on her belt and back away until she faded in the darkness, her presence dissipated in Maul’s senses until there was not a trace of her was left.

  Maul controlled his breathing and slowly got up on his feet.

  He walked out of the chamber and into the transparisteel viewport in time to see a single sleek star cruiser shot out from one of the hangars and jumped to hyperspace.

  Darth Maul rubbed his chest and his neck and gripped his lightsaber with intense hatred.

  He hated his father for being such a lowly coward and a slave.

  He hated his mother for submitting to the barbaric laws of the Nightsisters.

  He hated his brothers for being too weak minded to see past the deception of their mother.

  He hated his Master for continuously finding and exploiting his weaknesses.

  He hated the Jedi for what they are.

  He hated the Republic for their hypocrisy.

  He hated her for returning to his life.

  He hated himself for being weak.

  Not again, not ever.

  I am the rancor of Dathomir.

  I am the demon of Iridonia.

  I am the weapon of the Sith.

  My name is Darth Maul, Dark Lord of the Sith.

  “I am an animal.” Lord Maul said aloud, ending his mental litany of his personal hatred.

  * * *

  The steady streaming streaks of hyperspace in the cockpit viewport flowed in eerie hypnotic silence but the beauty and wonder of it were lost to the ship’s lone occupant.

  The Lady Sarc Crimos sat at the captain’s chair staring at her clawed hands, her muscles shaking, her chest pounding, her thoughts racing.

  “I almost killed him.” she groaned, tears rebelliously streaming down her cheeks.

  Confront him, make him hate you and at the same time remind him of what you once were to him. Confuse him then leave him to his dilemma.

  Those were the words of Lord Sidious, her new found employer and mentor.

  It was cruel, but necessary.

  Her thoughts wandered to the time when Maul was taken by Lord Sidious from her life.

  She left the Nightsisters, wandered aimlessly at the lush wilderness of Dathomir, hunted for food and killed two bulls to survive. It was her first time to kill a bull alone, without Maul, or even the younger brothers Savage and Feral.

  Then she found a massive ship, old and rusted. It was a relic of a forgotten past.

  She walked around and above it, exploring, using the moonlight until she saw a small hole, being only eight years old she easily crawled her way in.

  She saw living quarters, kitchens and other civilized amenities, furniture and objects. She knows such things because of the stories told her by her mother, a former half-Catharian slave dancer on Cathar who escaped and landed on Dathomir, a rancor attacked her, destroyed her ship. She was marooned and later on met the Nightsisters and learned their ways. She was also strong in the Force. When her mother was old enough to take a man, a half-Iegon half-Hapan Dark Jedi slave was given to her mother and their union gave birth to her.

  She saw a soft bed inside the old ship and there she slept, the following morning, she continued her exploration and saw ancient holocrons. One she accidentally opened and a holographic recording of an alien Jedi Master appeared. She discovered she could interact with it and spent the next week learning from the holocrons. Her thirst for knowledge led her to smuggle the holocrons out and headed to a recluse Nightsister near the mountains.

  The old witch was a Wookie, she knows of her because her mother used to take her there, they were old friends.

  She showed her the holocrons and together they learned. Until a ship landed nearby, the Wookie witch told her it was a bounty hunter. The reason of him being there was obvious. Smokes were rising from the engines of his ship.

  With the encouragement of the Wookie witch, Sarc sneaked into the ship and hid herself in one of the empty crates on the storage compartment.

  She brought food and water and used her little knowledge on the Force and uses a Force-trance throughout the long travel.

  When she felt the crate being carried out of the ship she waited and reached out to check if she was alone and when there was none nearby, she got out and found herself on a strange world.

  She saw massive lumbering slug like creatures either slithering on the ground or reclining on repulsors, numerous alien species moved about everywhere and the stench of the place and its people was overpowering.

  Sarc wandered until she met other children who recruited her to their little band of pick-pockets. She later on learned that these kids were managed by a criminal who works for a larger group called Black Sun.

  Only a year since then, she grew accustomed to the lifestyle on Nar Hekka, one of the Hutt’s homeworlds. But her stay there are at an end as a Jedi came to confront her boss about Black Sun, a fight ensued and her boss and his retinue of guards fell to the blazing weapon of the Jedi.

  She tried to defend her boss and use the Force against him. The Jedi was surprised at her powers and started to talk her into coming with him after he eliminated her boss.

  His words were promising and his presence reassuring.

  She was taken to the cap
ital of the Republic, Coruscant as they call it and was presented to the Jedi Council. A diminutive green Jedi adamantly refused her to be trained.

  The Jedi who found her left and took her off-world again, this time they went to a larger ship somewhat similar to the one she saw on Dathomir.

  It was the Chu’unthor II and there she met Master Djinn Altis. Altis allowed her to be trained and the Jedi who discovered her became her master.

  But the innate darkness in her was so strong and she found herself questioning the ways of her master and the Jedi Academy. She was sixteen when she left Chu’unthor II and return to her old ways, she became a thief, smuggler, bounty hunter all in one until she encountered a rich businessman who offered her a high paying job.

  She became an assassin for both the Black Sun and Damask Holdings.

  There her employer Hego Damask introduced her to a Sith Lord, Darth Sidious.

  He trained her as a Sith Acolyte and during the course of her training she learned that Lord Sidious’ apprentice was Darth Maul.

  Sidious told her he knew about her connection to Maul. He said that she is not to make her presence known to Maul until the right time comes. Sidious promised her that she will be reunited with him someday and that she is to play a very important part in the completion of his training to Sithhood.

  Sarc Crimos opened her eyes and vividly recalls the hatred in Maul’s.

  She knew then that her master was lying and telling the truth at the same time.

  She will not be reunited with Maul.

  But she will indeed play a huge part to his Sith ascendancy.

  Deep inside she felt she will regret ever joining the Sith when her true purpose are finally revealed.

  * * *

  The clone of King Veruna darted straight into the quarters of the new monarch. He was met there by another pair of guards but the clone easily got rid of them.

  The clone paused and took Magenta’s comlink and activated the palm holo.

  The small yet chilling black hooded form of a tattooed Zabrak appeared.

  “Request to execute ahead of schedule.” The clone hissed. Eyes alert for any incoming security personnel. None came at the moment.

  “Commence Red Pool.” the Zabrak bared his teeth.

  The clone closed the comlink and punched the codes to enter the quarters of the new queen. The blastdoor opened into another wide hallway with a computer console at the far end. No one was there.