Maul: Legacy of Shadows

Chapter 7: Memories of Darkness

***Year 33 BBY***Coincides with the graphic novel 'Darth Maul' by Cullen Bunn

Darth Sidious sat in the back of his apprentice's personal starship, the Scimitar, sitting deep in meditation, but fully aware of what transpired around him. He knew their destination would finally cement his hold on his newly christened apprentice's spirit, Malachor.  Sidious himself was taken there by his own master early in his training and afterwards given the title Darth Sidious. This was all to continue the lineage of Darth Bane's Sith and stated only two Sith may be in existence at a time.

Maul was oblivious to the fact that he would be nothing more than a tool, fooled into believing that his ascension would be a new step in the Rule of Two.  Sidious's master Darth Plagueis was still alive however, which meant Bane's Rule of Two would be broken by the addition of a third Sith Lord.  It mattered not to Sidious, he never held faith that a brutish monster such as Maul could continue the intricate web of lies and deception Sidious and his master had woven through their political ties.  His new apprentice would be nothing more than a tool, a weapon designed to simply assassinate Jedi, but given the title of a Sith Lord to inflate his ego and create an atmosphere of subservience.

While it was true Maul had immense potential in the Force, there were times where an assassin trained in the Sith arts would be useful to bring about Sidious's plan of galactic takeover.  This trip would cement his hold on his apprentice's rage and anger and allow him to focus it on his Jedi enemies.

Coming out of hyperspace, Sidious could sense their destination lay before the ship, the planet Malachor.  Its outer shell hid the true planet inside, a Sith world of great power and chaotic energies.  Maul could feel that the Dark Side overflowed through the planet, and he allowed the Force to guide him to their destination, just as Sidious had intended.  Piercing through the outer shell of the planet, Maul brought the Scimitar down next to a black pyramid that rose from the depths of the inner planet.  Throughout the surface, the pyramid was surrounded by bodies frozen in time.  Their skin was blackened and cracked, as though they were petrified and sat in horror for millennia.

Maul rose from his cockpit seat and pulled the hood of his black fiber-weave cloak over his head as he walked into his master's meditation room.  Sidious was already standing, waiting for his apprentice to open the docking ramp to the desolate surface.   As the ramp touched down on the surface, the planet seemed to welcome their presence with a light gust of wind.  Maul followed his master out onto the dirt covered ground, his eyes keen on all the bodies surrounding the black pyramid that rose before them.

"Come my young apprentice," Sidious beckoned, motioning for Maul to walk ahead of him between a large gathering of bodies; some locked in eternal conflict with dead ancient lightsabers still in hand.

As he strode silently through the mass of bodies, Maul's master simply rose his left hand, beckoning the Force as he did so.  Immediately the ashes from the ground wafted towards Maul, who merely gasped as they filled his lungs.  He couldn't breathe, the air having been replaced by the remains of an ancient Sith.

The world around Maul had changed, his master no longer stood behind him.  Instead he stood amid a crowd of differing species of alien, all wielding a lightsaber or black-bladed vibroblade. Atop the pyramid's middle deck stood a woman with short white hair, an elderly human female clad in a simple darkened cloak.  She was speaking but Maul couldn't hear her words.  When she finally stopped her muted speech, those surrounding Maul all raised their lightsabers and swords and cheered.  The cacophony deafened the Sith apprentice, as sound now flooded through his mind.   Moments later it all stopped, and a large battleship came into view, then another, and finally a third.  Each carried the symbols of both the Galactic Republic and Jedi Orders on their hulls.