Star Wars: A Thing Of Beauty

Hold Faith

The battle in Ferrara quickly became a very intense one, with the clone troopers and Twi'lek invaders fighting like hell against the Harrowers and Izanami security. However, captain Syndulla and the brave Twi'lek men he brought with him were the first to fall, proving to be nothing compared to the ruthless mercenaries. The clone troopers quickly dropped in number, but once they grouped together and got a foothold in the shopping mall, they were able to start pushing back. They brought with them an ARC trooper commander who is incredibly skilled with his blaster shotgun paired with a pistol. But the real difference is being made by the Bad Batch. A group of very unique clone commandos, including a huge, hulking man in heavy armor with immense strength, a deadly sniper, a hacker almost as good as Dekker, a Techno Union cyborg and their leader, who is highly skilled in multiple different ways. Together with the regular clone troopers, they are holding off the Harrowers. They still can't win, but they are trying to push back and survive until backup can come and get them out. With the death of Cham Syndulla and all of his men, this mission is basically a bust. They couldn't even so much as reach the front doors of Izanami tower...

Meanwhile, Ahsoka and Maul are using this distraction to make their own move against Takemura Izanami. Unfortunately, the Republic never had a chance of pulling off this mission, as they woefully underestimated what Takemura was capable of pulling out of his sleeve. And Ahsoka had thought of tipping them off to the dangers, but that could have cost the lives of hundreds of Harrowers and maybe even led to the club president's death as well. Chosing between Republic lives and the Harrowers was not easy, but at this point, the choice was still clear...

When Jedi master Kenobi was handed over to Twi'lek judicial officials on the demands of the people of Ryloth - who were revved up by the Izanami corporation, they were surprised by a total lack of any investigation into the events on Rutanda. The Republic looked into it themselves, but there wasn't much they could find, besides the bodies of two dead, rotting clone troopers who were stripped of their gear and were mysteriously unaccounted for... These particular clones were confirmed to have been scouts. So this led the Republic to requesting that Ryloth provide more information on the matter. But little does anyone know, Takemura Izanami was under control of the judicial officials and the entire prison that Kenobi was being kept in, and refused to comply. The perfect cover being that Ryloth no longer answers to the Republic. Seeing how preposterous the situation was becoming, the Republic decided to send a team to go break the seemingly wrongfully imprisoned Jedi out in addition to the capture of Izanami tower. And what Maul and Ahsoka need isn't only in Izanami tower anyway, but it's also in the prison where Kenobi is being kept. Proof that Takemura and the Izanami corporation controls the justice system in Ferrara city and has no intention of investigating a crime they manipulated others into committing. The Republic only needs proof of this, and the corrupt corporation will fall, and they'll take Ryloth back.

As one of the Harrowers' contractors, Maul wasn't even supposed to go on this mission, but he snuck aboard the Black Spark and ended up right where he needed to be, with Ahsoka, making their way through the Ferrara prison. It is pure chaos inside, with prisoners screaming and cheering through the bars of the prison lanes, and the guards needed to keep out the Republic invasion, so Maul and Ahsoka could sneak through quickly as the fight raged on in the background. The prison guards are still considered to be innocent men, so the Republic was strictly issued to only use the stun feature of their blasters. However, things were about to get much worse, as the prison cells suddenly opened up and Maul and Ahsoka found themselves right in the middle of a huge riot. The Zabrak pushes everyone surrounding himself and Ahsoka away with the force before the two got swarmed, and then they began to try and escape the chaos. This sudden prison break was not part of the Harrowers' plan, and Maul doesn't like it one bit... Unknowns occurring in missions like this are never good, as there is very, very little room for errors. The two make it to a server room, though, virtually unscathed as the prisoners weren't too interested in them. It's a large, high ceiling room with huge, cylindrical computer devices stretching up over 8 feet, lined up neatly like pillars. And there is a huge, central control computer across the room from the entrance with a huge screen. Maul approaches the main computer and Ahsoka began to check out one of the control servers to see if she could do anything about the violent riot going. Right before Maul started digging into the files, the image of Takemura Izanami appeared on the screens in front of the Zabrak... Maul's yellow eyes widen at the realization that the plan he and Ahsoka worked on for so long is now a failure.
"What is this?!" Maul says angrily.

"You're plot against me shall not bare favorable results for you, I am afraid." Mr. Izanami says plainly. "You were unaware of the very keen ears I have everywhere - in other words; I knew of your plot almost the entire time."

"I rather doubt that you have enough proof to bring to the Harrowers..." Maul answers, clutching his fists tightly. "And besides, I've got far more dirt on you than you have on me."

"You are correct on both accounts." Takemura answered simply. "But there is enough proof for myself, and that is all I needed to seal your fate here today. Goodbye..."

The transmission ends, and then the computers and servers all short circuit catch fire. As close as they thought they'd gotten to defeating Takemura, it turned out they were not close at all. He figured out their plan and moved several steps ahead of them... It's devastating...
"DAMMIT!!" Maul yelled furiously, punching the destroyed computer. "We've got to leave now, Ahsoka!"

Before they could even get moving though, and a gigantic, scorching hot laser beam tears the room apart - bursting through the floor and ripping up everything in its path, originating from a lower level. The beam greatly increases the temperature of the room and burns everything up, completely blowing the room to bits... The last thing Ahsoka saw before blacking out was Maul trying to protect her from an explosion using the force.

On Umbara, in the Qoirriar estate, Zorsia, Jinang and Dekker are all together with Urowen in a very gaudy living room with two sectional sofas. Zorsia is sitting next to Urowen on one couch, and Jinang and Dekker are sitting on the other.
"Things are going quite wildly on Ryloth." Urowen says casually, sipping some wine. "The Harrowers' contractor, Maul, tried making a very bold, and very stupid move against Mr. Izanami. One he's now paid for with his life."

"What about Ahsoka?" Jinang asked quickly. "I know she and Maul were working closely together."

Ahsoka had fallen through the floor of the server room down several stories where she landed on a pile of rubble and debris, rolling down to the bottom, getting injured on the way. She had blacked out for a few minutes, but woke up, coughing and gasping. She groans as she tries to stand, and everything is blurry, but soon comes back, and suddenly Ahsoka noticed Maul calling out to her. She tries to rush over, following the sound of Maul's voice, struggling to move. Her friend is crushed under rubble, impaled with metal and burned all over... Ahsoka tries digging him out, but she's took weak from her injuries, and can't budge the debris an inch, even with the force.
"Ahsoka stop..." Maul says weakly, coughing. "You must continue our work..."

"We'll stop Takemura together...!" She says, still trying to lift tons of rubble.

"He didn't see you..." Maul says urgently, fading away. "He doesn't know you were here, Ahsoka... Please... Listen to me..."

Ahsoka falls backwards on her bottom, giving up trying to lift the rubble.
"Takemura thought... It was just me here..." Maul continues in labored heaves. "You must... Get away... From here - before anyone... Suspects..."

Ahsoka doesn't know what to say to her dying friend, but she wants to at least be with him in his final moments.
"Ahsoka... Listen..."

"Anything." She says, leaning in closer as he's getting too quiet.

"Th-thank you..." He says in his last breaths. "For... Having f-faith in... Me..."

Her eyes widened at his unexpected last words. Ahsoka never really wondered why Maul wanted to defeat Takemura Izanami, why it mattered so much. Perhaps she was afraid of the answer, that maybe he just wanted the power that the Izanami corporation commanded. Maul's true motivations died with him. But Ahsoka choses to believe now that he was willfully on the path of redemption, based on the humility he showed in his last moments. So she will finish what he started. However, shas no idea where to start, besides finding a way out.

"What about Ahsoka?" Urowen answered Jinang with an indifferent tone. "She was just another pawn in Maul's game. That's how Sith work."

"I imagine she'll feel quite betrayed." Zorsia says, sounding very curious about the matter. "From what I knew, she just randomly left everything behind and ran away with Maul one day."

Urowen saying that Ahsoka was just Maul's "pawn" is exactly what Maul was hoping for in his last moments. That they'd underestimate the faith he actually had in Ahsoka. Because now she's a hidden assassin, who has a better chance to stop Mr. Izanami than Maul did. Maul wished he had been around to see it for himself when it all falls apart...