“Your Force fills this space, wench. What have you been doing hmm?” he demanded coldly. Dirae swiped the back of hand over the trickle of blood trailing down her chin.
“That is none of your concern, bounty hunter!” she snapped. Damek kicked her in the side sharply and stalked over to the control panel. She groaned against the pain and held her middle. Damek eyed the open panel with a cold gaze and whirled around to glare at Diare.
“So I see you know about the tracer’s wires, wench. You even tried to fix them while I was asleep didn’t you? For such insolence I will have to punish you.” He withdrew a large blade from his belt and knelt down beside her. Diare steeled herself against his threats, employing her Force to protect her body from anything terribly damaging. He snatched up her arm, inspected the skin befor ehim, then sliced a huge cut into her bicep. She bit back a scream of pain. The blade seemed to be hot and it seared her flesh,leaving a large incision. Pleased, Damek withdrew the blade and calmly licked off the blood from the steel. Diare couldn’t look at him.
“That’s better. Now fix the ship,” he commanded and left the pod. Dirae swallowed back her bitter retorts and stood shakily. She used her Force to keep the blood from coating her arm as she tended to the damaged controls. She noticed the tracer wires had been completely removed from the panel. Apparently, Damek didn’t doubt her mechanical skills. With a long shuddering sigh, she began the repairs.
* * *
Seduction V sped towards the large planet called Iridonia. He hadn’t been back on his home planet in many years. Flashes of his childhood before Sidious found him sped across his mindscape. He recalled the dozens of children who taunted Maul for his small size. Puberty hadn’t been a happy time for him. His horns were too small by his race’s standards, his height was pathetic, and his cold demeanor chased away many a possible friend. Not that it mattered to him at the time but it did trouble his parents often.
Chasing away the memories of a childhood best forgotten, Maul eased the ship down onto the planet. He scouted for towns and cities, located a few in clusters, and landed the ship far from them. The last thing he needed was someone else boarding his ship and causing trouble. He cursed silently to himself. Damek was a crafty bastard all right. How long he had been tracking the Sith pair down was anyone’s guess.
Maul descended from the ship’s main hatchway and activated the cloaking device from his wrist com. A pair of droids followed him from the ship, appearing to be walking on air. He jerked his head forward, indicating that the droids should go on ahead. Their lights blinked and flickered as they obeyed his commands. Maul summoned his Speeder, mounted the crescent moon-shaped vehicle, and sped away after the droids.
* * *
“Good. Now we can resume our journey,” Damek remarked after inspecting Dirae’s handiwork. Dirae muttered a snide reply and curled up in her seat. Damek ignored her mumblings and closed the pod’s hatch. Diare’s stomach dipped as the pod took off and sailed into the starry sky. She hoped Maul had gotten to the planet first. Damek could use a really good ambush, she thought bitterly.
Apparently, the swamp planet had been a fair distance from Iridonia. It took the tiny pod and its two passengers a day and a half to arrive. Dirae was thankful for the distance for it allowed Maul time to plan his attack. If he was even here, she thought sadly, peering out of the window. The familiar grounds of her homeworld would’ve cheered her normally but she knew only death awaited her here.
Damek glanced at her from time to time as he located the correct town to land in. To him, she appeared distant and accepting of her fate. This only mildly bothered him. He rather enjoyed it when his prizes panicked and begged for their lives. Dirae was made of stronger stuff than that, he mused. This almost pleased him. Had she not been scheduled for death he would’ve taken her for himself. That fool Khameir didn’t deserve such a fine female. He smiled snakelike to himself as a new idea formed in his mind. Yes. He would take her.
* * *
Maul had situated himself in an abandoned dwelling on the outskirts of the busiest city on the planet, Di Musi. He remained to himself, constantly using his link with Dirae to see if she’d arrived yet. Suddenly, he felt her presence. An unusual feeling of joy surged through his body. He ran outside to his Speeder and sped away in the direction of the feeling. He assured her of his own presence as he flew wildly to her location.
”I’m coming, Dirae. Hold on.”
* * *
During this time, Damek was leading the chained Dirae to a lodging facility when she heard his thoughts in her mind. Unconsciously she jerked to a halt. Damek’s arm yanked backwards as she did so. He growled and turned to glare at her.
“What the hell’s wrong now?” he grouched. Dirae didn’t hear him. She was overcome with a feeling of triumph at her love’s arrival. She cast her arrogant look towards her captor.
“He is here and you’re going to die,” she stated simply. Damek appeared amused by this news.
“Oh is that so?” he asked teasingly, tugging on her chains gently. “Well, I certainly won’t die without taking what I’ve found.” Dirae’s look of triumph immediately changed to dread as she read his intentions in his eyes. He couldn’t be serious! But he was. Damek lunged forward, snatched Dirae up around the waist, and walked into the lodge. Dirae pounded on his strong back and kicked her legs.
“You will release me, bounty hunter! You’re asking for a trip to the nine Sith hells if you do this!” she shouted. Damek ignored her protests and beatings on his back. He held her legs firmly as he demanded a room for himself and the impatient “missus”. Dirae gasped indignantly and struggled even more. Damek beamed a broad smile at the innkeeper and accepted the keycard from the man.
“Be silent, wench. You’ll soon be screaming for a whole other reason,” Damek said calmly as he opened the door and threw her onto the small bed. Quickly, she rolled away from his grasp and stod against the far wall, fire blazing from her green gaze. Damek sighed impatiently and summoned her to him. She struggled against his power with her own.
“No! I will not allow this!” she cried through clenched teeth. “I’d sooner die than lie with you!” The venom in her voice was clear. Damel frowned darkly at her resistance.
“If force is what you want, then you shall have it,” he promised her coldly. Before she could blink, her Force snapped and her body was flung onto the bed again. Damek used his power to pin her arms and legs down. She continued her struggle against her invisible bonds. Even Maul’s “revenge” seemed to be a simple bout of lovemaking compared to this!