Intro line:
This is my interpretation of a possible scenario of what Darth Maul might
have been doing/thinking while waiting for his probe droids to return with
news of the Jedi. As we all know, all characters, locations and props are
properties of George Lucas. All original material is my copyright.
"The Wait"
By Ray Van Horn, Jr.
Original Material Copyright 1999
"What an accursed wasteland," Darth Maul hissed to himself, drawing the
dark hood of his heavy tunic over the protuding crown of horns adorning his
bald pate. Jagged marks of red and black facial tattoos peeked through the
black cloak, and one cautious glance into the hideous yellow eyes glaring
from the bowels of the Sith's robe was enough to set fear in even the most
stoic of brave Jedi Knights. That, and the feral gnashing of Maul's grit
teeth, suggested a demon resided within the folds of the flowing tunic that
did little to shield its owner from the lancing, blistering rays of
Tatooine's twin suns hovering in the atmosphere above.
It had been nearly nine hours since Maul arrived on the desert planet,
specifically on the far outskirts of a sprawled, Hutt-controlled settlement
known as Mos Espa. Darth Maul's coordinates suggested Mos Espa as the most
likely part of Tatooine that his quarry, Queen Amidala of Naboo, would seek
refuge in.
Amidala was wanted by Maul's master, Darth Sidious, to sign a forced
treaty which would establish sovereignty by the Trade Federation--established
by Sidious-- over the otherwise peaceful planet. Control of Naboo was the
stepping stone in an overall grand scheme to take over the entire galaxy.
Sidious, in his wisdom, selected Naboo for its previous passivity to foreign
affairs and its division amongst its primary dual inhabitants, the Naboo and
the Gungans. The invasion of the planet was rudimentary, save for one thing.
Queen Amidala, with the aid of two Jedi consorts, had escaped her native
planet, thusly delaying the proceedings. Darth Sidious had delegated her
recapture to his protege, Darth Maul, who was more than willing to accept the
responsibility.
Upon Maul's dawn arrival on Tatooine, he scouted out Mos Espa from his
vantage point and sent out his aerial reconoissance probe droids to ferret
out Amidala and the Jedi protecting her. Since their deployment, the waiting
game had turned out too much for Maul.
Not known for his patience, Darth Maul was a tough student for his
master. Over the course of time, Darth Sidious had managed to corral his
fiery pupil, and fixate the would-be Sith's unbridled, savage anger in
harmony with the mandates of the Dark Side of the Force. However, the Force
could only do so much; the hate harbored within the young Sith Lord tended to
push itself forth like a caged animal, seizing the vulnerable part of his
psyche that so badly wanted to unleash the rage struggling to break free.
Maul paced maniacally in front of his glistening silver craft. The evil
seed that was planted deep within him was beginning to uproot through his
veins and arteries. His blood boiled like a savory bowl of Mynock stew, as
his feline-like yellow eyes blazed unforgivingly. Darth Maul, in his angst
to find Amidala and the Jedi, embraced the seductive, filtering wisps of the
Dark Side, allowing the tainted edge of the Force to engulf his aura like an
invisible, nurturing and ultimately insatiable lover.
The Jedi had to be out there somewhere in that endless terrain of sand
and dust. When push came to shove, Darth Maul was more concerned with
finding the Jedi than he was about finding the Naboo queen. He did the
former out of a sense of duty to his mentor, but the latter was for his own
personal honor. He wanted to face the Jedi and test his honed skills against
them. Many were the humanoids and aliens who had fallen victim to Darth
Maul's unquelled fury, but the real test of his mettle would come against his
equals in the form of the Force-sensitive Jedi.
Maul was tempted to begin his quest astride his hovercycle. After all,
it seemed far more practical than idly waiting for his probe droids to report
back. He had his orders from his master, and that presided everything, no
matter if Maul agreed with them or not. Regardless, he routinely checked the
mini navicomputer strapped to his wrist for any telltale blinks or messages,
but so far the droids had nothing to report.
He clenched his black gloved hands frustratedly, wishing that he had
something or someone to take his aggression out upon. Instead, he summoned
that part of the Force that enabled him to sit down on the landing ramp of
his ship, cross his legs, and clasp his hands in front of his face while
thoughtfully extending his forefingers upwards. He closed his bright eyes
and succumbed to the whims of the Force.
So attuned were Siths to the Force that Darth Maul easily connected with
his master, who was overseeing the Naboo operation from planets afar.
"What is it, my apprentice?" Darth Sidious' voice echoed inside of
Maul's mind, retrieved by his receptive neurons.
Darth Maul smiled upon contact from his teacher, albeit briefly.
"Master, I grow weary of this," he growled without moving his black lips. "I
must conduct a more proactive search if we are to effectively implement our
plans."
"Patience, my young Sith Lord," Sidious soothed in a fatherly demeanor.
"Do as I instructed, and all will fall into place. The Jedi will come to
you, I assure it. All is proceeding as I have foreseen, and when you meet
the Jedi, they will be no match for you. You are to kill them and bring the
Queen and her entourage to me."
"Yes, my master," Maul acknowledged, his anger subsiding a degree from
the encouraging words of his mentor.
"You will encounter a young boy amongst them," Sidious continued on the
celestial mind channel between the two Siths, "The Force is unusually strong
with him. The Jedi mean to convert the boy to their ways, which bodes ill
for us. I sense that he represents a potential major flux within the Force.
You must destroy this boy upon sight, is that understood?"
"It shall be done, my master," Maul vowed.
"Good. Contact me when you have the Queen."
The last few words from Darth Sidious floated away and disippated like
thinning vapor from the Tibana gas mines. Darth Maul flickered his infernal
pupils open again and quickly rose from the ship's landing platform. The
Force, like a second sense of sight, was signaling something awkward to him.
Maul unhooked his lightsaber from beneath his tunic, and like a predatorial
panther, he slinked from the starboard side of his ship.
Could it be the Jedi?
Darth Maul hoped so. Anxious adrenaline charged him once again, as he
used the Force to determine what danger, if any, lurked around the opposite
side of his ship.
A sudden, high-pitched chittering noise that sounded crazily along the
lines of "Oon tee dee!" chirped from the aft side, and the Force told Maul
that this was not his Jedi adversaries. As he swung around the ship, he
noticed two dwarf-like creatures cloaked in brown robes that enshrouded their
puny bodies. In a way, they were pint-sized duplicates of Darth Maul,
especially with the glowing gold digits twinkling within the faceless gaps of
their robes. Maul assumed these were their eyes, as his nose twitched in
repugnance from the putrid stench emanating from the curious Jawas.
The small, smelly things appeared defenseless, save for a crude blaster
one of the Jawas fumbled for. Out of instinct guided by pure rage, Maul
quickly flashed his hand forward, his leathery fingers outstretched as he
used the Force to knock the blaster out of the Jawa's tiny mit, sending it
flying numerous feet away into the desert sand.
The pair of Jawas screeched in horror and attempted to bolt away from
Darth Maul.
Were Maul made of compassionate stock, he might have let the fleeing
aliens go. However, his anger at their impudence, fueled by the long
forebearance of his wait for the Jedi, mandated that he tax his frenzied
wrath upon the little scavengers. A fleeting thought, whispered into his
easily-influenced ear by some renegade aspect of the Force, told him the
Jawas had meant to rob him. For that mistake, they would die.
His fingers still pointed in their direction, Darth Maul focused the
power of the Force on the Jawa who possessed the blaster. Immediately, the
brown-robed midget toppled into the sand, clutching at his throat. His short
legs kicked and thrashed as Maul applied crushing pressure, his fingers
curling into a sadistic claw. He smiled with satisfaction as he closed the
distance to the dying Jawa, exerting the Force inexorably until the Jawa
spewed his last breath in the form of a choked gag.
As his companion ran for his life, Darth Maul snapped on his lightsaber,
and gave chase. The crimson blade hummed perversely, and Maul wished that he
currently had his double-bladed bo staff lightsaber instead of this single
unit. He so enjoyed using the double saber, twirling it, blocking parries
from multiple attackers, and so forth. He felt one with that saber, and
looked forward to its use like paramours looked forward to joining their
betrothed.
Then again, the pestery Jawa was so small and insignificant, the single
bladed saber was sufficient for the job.
As if treating this as one of Darth Sidious' routine exercises, Darth
Maul easily caught up to his prey, and he seized the opportunity to
somersault over the screaming Jawa, sand spraying in a grimy arc from his
vault. After two midair flips, Darth Maul landed in front of the Jawa and
cut the reeking creature in half with a sickening, humming slash.
"Too easy," Maul muttered snidely, deactivating his lightsaber and
refastening it to his belt. "A waste of effort."
Darth Maul trudged through the sand back to his ship. He ascended the
platform and located his hover cycle. The Force was like static all around
him now, telling him it was time. The Jedi would be coming. He could feel
their foul essence approaching. Maul snatched his binoculars in eager
anticipation and guided his cycle down the ramp.
It was no more than a couple of minutes when his wrist computer
announced one of his probe droids that promptly whirred up to greet him. The
orb-like reconoitter beeped and booped in a language that only Darth Maul and
his master could relate to, confirming what Maul already knew.
He straddled his air cycle and prepared to confront the Jedi.
"At last, revenge," he snarled, and descended down the sand dune.