The Unchronicled Adventures of Ahsoka Tano, Book Eight

Chapter Seven: Conspiring On The Dark Side

DARTH MAUL

Miles away, deep in the deserted, rickety shafts of the kyber crystal mines that had earned Cialone such a reputation, Darth Maul sat meditating. Rusted chains, stony rubble and the dark auras of the red lightsaber crystals that surrounded him from their deep roots in the rock were the only things that kept him company.

He pondered the true nature of the Force. It was to award power to the lucky few that deserved it, of course; as said an old Sith saying, ‘There is no good and evil. There is only power, and those too weak to seek it’. But there was something else that he planned to use it for.

Immortality.

His Master had once told him the story of Darth Plagueis the Wise, the Sith Lord before Palpatine. Plagueis, after extensive research, had discovered the secret to influencing the midichlorians inside every living being to create life… or to sustain it, or to end it. But what he hadn’t figured out was how to prolong his own.

And that was the secret Maul was after. It wasn’t beyond his reach at all, because he had meditated long and hard on it while he had been trapped inside the Sith holocron, but there were things he needed to reach his goal. Such as the spirit of a Jedi, captured inside a holocron. And he knew exactly where to find one.

Through the Force that flowed through his part of the planet, which was the exact half that seemed to resonate more strongly with the Dark Side, he felt the arrival of his apprentice, Shima. A moment later, he heard her small solar sailer land in the distance.

He waited patiently for her to make her way down into their newest hideout. As she arrived at the door a few minutes later, he used the Force to open it, without even lifting a finger. Such was the power of his mind.

“Shima, what have you to report?” he said, spinning around on the round chair he had chosen for his meditation. He got up, the unfurling of his dark robes making his body look like a living oil stain, with his red skin burning like flame at its summit. “Did you make the necessary arrangements for my departure?”

“Yes, Master,” she said from the kneeling position she had assumed a moment before. “I have reprogrammed the pathetic excuse for a security system in the New Jedi Temple to allow both of our ships to leave and come back to the planet whenever we choose to.” Suddenly she stiffened, as if noting her misstep. “Should you choose to allow me to accompany you, Master.”

“Yes, yes… You will stay here this time. I have another task for you, one that is of the utmost importance.”

Maul chose to overlook her eagerness to learn more about the Dark Side, and to see the rituals that he would soon preform. This time. She had an underlying desperation to find out whom she really was that sometimes disconcerted him. It hadn’t gotten in the way of her ability to serve him thus far, but he was still wary.

Much could go wrong if she found out who she really was.

She didn’t look up, but he could tell that her eyes were glinting like the hard grey chips that they were. Despite her prowess with the Dark Side of the Force, her eyes didn’t change color, a factor that interested him greatly. It probably had to do with her species, but he couldn’t be sure. “Yes, Master. Whatever you wish me to do shall be done.”

“Now listen closely. If there is even the slightest of errors now, everything that I have been planning for the past three months will come unhinged…”

*Darth Maul and his sinister apprentice Shima have made their entrance. But what could Maul be planning? Why does he need to leave the planet undetected so badly? And what of Anakin? How will he recover from the side effects of hearing Master Qui-Gon's voice? You'll find out in the next thrilling chapter of the Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!

Shmeeeehhhh... It's morning... I have to go to school... But at least IT'S FRIDAY!!!

Ahsoka: No it isn't, it's Thursday... What are you talking about?

Fine. It's a fake-Friday. I have a day off school tomorrow, and you all know what that means... WRITING GALORE AND MANY UPDATES!!!

Lux: *wakes up for three seconds* Shu... Shut up... It's too early in the morning to be yelling... *snores*

The sun is up, therefore I am up. That's how it works when I have to go to school in the morning. SO STOP COMPLANING!!

Lux: *wakes up from the yelling* NOOOOO I DON'T WANT TO WAKE UP YET

And about last night...

Everyone: *thinks* OH FORCE WE'RE SCREWED

WHO stole those soft caramels I was saving?!

Semm, Amni and Lux: *points at Anakin and Ahsoka*

Anakin: THAAAANNNKKKS, guys...

Well, I know that the two of you took them because Ahsoka's being sugar-deprived by Lux because he wants the baby to be healthy, so I'm going to let her off the hook. But YOU *glares at Anakin* on the other hand, YOU will face something far more terrible!!!

Everyone except Anakin: *gets behind me*

UNLEASH THE FANGIRLS!!!!

*doors fly open and a stampede of squealing Star Wars fangirls run inside*

Anakin: *runs* OH FORCE AHHHHHHHH SAVE ME!!!!

Fangirls: *chases, still screaming*

Have the Jedi come and rescue you at your execution on Geonosis and may the Force be with you,

Sharron*