STAR WARS: CONFLICTED

CHAPTER XXIV - MAUL

"Please be safe, Nathan." Ahsoka turned to him as they were about to leave their ship.
"Yeah, I will."
"I'm serious, Nath. If you get hurt or lose, I don't know what I'll do." She almost whimpered to him.
Nathan turned to face her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"You'll live on, as all things do in the Force, Ahsoka. Your fate will be decided another time." He said to her.

Ahsoka leant forward and kissed him one last time before they left.

Nathan smiled at her, before fastening his belt and clipping his sabers. The party of 6 all left, marching towards Mandalore. They had to find a way to sneak into the throne room, Bo had told them. They knew that this particular room was most likely where Maul would be. Ahsoka reached out with the Force and sure enough, the former Sith Lord was there. Using either Mandalorian jetpacks or the Force, they leapt up onto the roof, avoiding detection as best they could.

Unfortunately, Yern's jetpack jammed and he fell back down, in front of two guards, so Bo, Ursa and Marc set off to help. That left Ahsoka Tano and Nathan Tynan with the task of confronting Maul.

The throne room was swarming with guards, but Nathan knew what he had to do. He noticed a gap between the guards, and Maul. He noticed that Maul now mechanical legs. He must have had them replaced after Naboo, Nathan thought to himself.

Before Nathan jumped down, Ahsoka stopped him.

"No."
"What?"
"I'm coming in too. We can take out the guards and face him together."
Nathan paused. There were about twelve guards, all highly trained by the seems of it. This would be no easy feat.
He sighed.
"Okay, but be careful." Nathan whispered. He pulled back his metal fist and drove it through the glass roof, causing it all to shatter. Using the Force, Ahsoka pulled two of the guards through the roof, and over the edge of it, sending them hurtling to the floor. Nathan and Ahsoka leapt through the hole, igniting their sabers.

"Jedi." Maul growled from his throne. He was a scary being, that was no doubt. Hatred swept through him. Nathan could feel it.

Nathan pushed another guard out of a window, shattering it, as Ahsoka used her new blue sabers to slice through another. Nathan and Ahsoka went back to back, deflecting blaster fire at each guard as accurately as they could. One of them used a flamethrower in their direction, but with an outstretched hand, Nathan took the flames with the Force, and slammed them back to the Mandalorian who had fired it, burning him where he stood.
There were 5 guards left. Nathan advanced towards one, flicking away bolts as he approached, before backhanding his head off with his lightsaber. Ahsoka flipped over another and deflected bolts back at one of the guards, killing him instantly.

"ENOUGH." Maul snarled, lifting the remaining guards in the air with the Force.
"Your weakness irritates me." And with a twist, he snapped all of their heads from their neck, leading to a gasp from Ahsoka. There were now just the three Force-wielders in the room. The Jedi Nathan, the Sith Maul, and Ahsoka Tano.

"Is it not illegal for Jedi to invade Mandalore?" Maul changed his tone.
"What you have done to these people is far worse." Nathan spoke. Maul glanced at him, unable to recognize the Jedi.
"You." He said softly, still with anger in his voice. "Your presence in the Force is not one of a Jedi. Your hate, your anger, your fear, I sense it all. You would have made an excellent apprentice." Maul said, rising from his throne.

"It is a shame then, that I already have that spot filled."
The doors swung open, and there stood another Maul. Well, slightly different. This one was far more built, with green face markings instead of red ones. He was a Zabrak, the same species as Maul. But genetically, he looked enhanced.

"You dare step foot on my planet." Maul growled at the Jedi.
"This is not your planet. Mandalore belongs to its inhabitants, not to its intruders." Nathan said, eyes still fixed on Maul.
"This says otherwise." Maul hissed, reaching for his belt. He unhooked a saber, and ignited it, revealing a dark blade, with a noise which sounded nothing like an ordinary lightsaber. It glistened with power and royalty.

"Savage, let us deal with our guests." Maul spoke to the other Zabrak, who ignited a double-bladed red lightsaber, spinning it behind his back and getting into a ready stance.

Ahsoka and Nathan shared a look of readiness and anxiousness, but they had to prevail. A lot was riding on this moment, they knew that.

Nathan decided he would be best suited to fighting the bigger Zabrak Maul had called Savage, and Ahsoka to fight Maul.

For a moment, no one moved. All that could be heard was the hum of the six ignited blades, in sync with each other, as the sun of Sundari set behind them.