“Are you sure we need to bother with this…” May yawned, still dressed in her pyjamas. “Can’t Ultron handle that spiky headed alien?”
“He did handle it… mostly,” Dan laughed as he drew his wife into a deeper cuddle. “But I want to visit the prison he built, Darth Maul has a bizarre number of feats in the legends canon.”
The Sith apprentice was like a cockroach. He survived one deadly fate after another, all while he matched or bested some of the best swordsmen in the galaxy. His raw power with the force was far behind someone like Anakin or Palpatine, but his physical abilities were on another level.
“Well, be careful,” May sighed, head rested on his shoulder. “Maybe you should take Merlyn with you?”
“No can do,” Dan kissed May’s forehead, a smile on his lips. “I had Ultron build our new prison on Mykr, the Wizard won’t go back…”
Fine,” May rolled him over and sat on his chest. “But hurry home, we have an invitation to some kind of planetary gathering and I won’t go without you!”
“Oh yeah… but that’s not for a couple months,” Dan grappled with May, until she lay pinned beneath him, face red. “The excitement of intergalactic politics…” Teeth bared in a sharkish grin, Dan raised a hand. “Bad girls must be tickled!”
“NOOOOO!”
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A hiss, the herald of a wash of humid air, sounded as the scout ship’s ramp lowered to the ground. Dan stretched his back and sauntered down, into the jungle clearing. Stormy perched on his head, already asleep from the warmth.
“Howdy… should I just call you Ultron?” Dan waved at the drone that emerged from the jungle.
“That is my name,” Ultron’s dry tones echoed from the less advanced machine. “The Sith is down below, taking him alive cost me many units… he didn’t calm down until we arrived at his new home.”
“I assumed as much,” Dan followed the A.I. onto an elevator, concealed in the forest floor. “Has he said anything yet?”
The metallic flooring descended, a tunnel that only fell a short distance. The base would be more secure, buried miles below, but the anti-force effect of this planet only went about a kilometre down at best.
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“Only that we killed his mother, the Nightsister killed by your pet,” Ultron nodded to Stormy’s unconscious form. “He has said nothing about his Master, or any mission he might be on.”
“Really…” Dan raised his eyebrow. “That’s… super unlucky of him, we’ve only killed one person.”
“That’s what I told him, but It seemed to bring little comfort,” Ultron shrugged as he led the way down a stark, metal hallway. “I’ve been forced to keep him restrained. Even without access to his magic, he has proved extremely motivated to escape.”
Ultron opened a thick, metallic door and exposed a chained Maul, hung from the ceiling like a slab of meat. The Sith’s yellowed eyes glared out from the darkened chamber, luminous points of rage.
“You’re just hanging him in the dark…” Dan shook his head. “What happened to humane conditions?”
The A.I. shrugged once more as he strode into the cell and shoved the bound man into a swing.
“His position is a result of his own actions, and I asked him if he wanted the light on, or off,” Ultron pointed the Sith at Dan. “He chose off.”
“So, you’re the one who owns this droid,” Maul spat at Dan’s feet. “You have no idea who you’ve taken hostage, nothing can save you from what’s coming.”
“Really…” Dan laughed. “Darth Maul, apprentice to Darth Sidious, aka Sheev Palpatine. Born on Dathomir, with two older brothers. Your mother gave you up to try and give you a better life…” Dan hesitated. “I am sorry that she died, for whatever that’s worth.”
“Impossible…” Maul’s face had frozen over. “No one should know that name…”
“How about this one then,” Dan leaned closer. “I know that your Master serves another, Darth Plagueis, also known as Hego Damask the second. There aren't many secrets that the Sith can keep from me.”
“Who are you…” Maul narrowed his eyes. “How have you severed my connection to the force?”
“Maybe I’m an all powerful master,” Dan laughed. “All you need to know is, Ultron here is going to keep you fed and stable, I’ve got big plans for you…”
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“Darth Maul has vanished…” Sidious bowed low to the holo-projector. “I believe there is something growing in the outer rim, a threat to our plans, my Master.”
“I have detected nothing, perhaps your ‘apprentice’ was simply unworthy,” Plagueis snorted. “Carry on as ordered, the next few years are crucial… also, train another scape-goat to replace Maul, they’re necessary for the future.”
“Very well, Master…” Sidious remained bowed until the connection was severed. “Soon enough, I will no longer need to grovel before your sub-human face!”
The Sith cast a blast of lightning into the closest wall. Darth Maul had been a massive investment. More than ten years, now wasted. He had little time to train another, let alone find a worthy candidate.
“Typhon…” Sidious mumbled as he floated down the dim lit halls. “Should I go myself…”
He shook his head and scowled. His place was here, he wouldn’t lower himself to the work of lesser beings. He reached out and pulled a comlink into his hand from across the expansive hall.
“Vergere, I have a task for you…”
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“Something’s different…”
She stretched her body, face pointed to the ink-black sky. The force was in chaos, warped and twisted as it struggled to return to a balance point. A grin split her face, past the edge of her jaw and up under her ears.
“Someone has broken the rules… someone who shouldn’t be…”
Macabre mouth opened in a wide yawn, the too thin woman lay back and focused above. It didn’t matter for now, but soon… soon she would be free. A wave of energy ripped through the jungle of carnivorous plants, up and into the depths of space. She returned to her task. A firm hold on one of the black holes above, she shifted it against its course.
“Soon…”