Tatooine
1 BBY
He watched the approaching figure through his spy cams, features hardening as he saw each one wink out in turn. But that, and the way it avoided the traps, and the double-bladed light saber at it's waist, was enough. Another of the Inquisitors had traced Rebel agent Shadow to his dusty lair on Tatooine.
He selected his ambush point carefully, waiting in a blind curve of the canyon. Tripwires were set, ready to bring a half-ton of rock crashing down at the flick of a wrist. One of the Inquisitors could deal with that easily enough, which is why he also had his heavy assault blaster primed and ready. The last one hadn't been good enough to deal with a hailstorm of blaster fire and an avalanche, and he doubted this one would be either.
The Sith didn't train their hunters that well.
He pursed his lips, and waited. Soon enough, the cloaked shape came into view. He waited patiently until it was in the killing zone, then triggered the charges and opened fire. The canyon lit with blood-red discharges, and the grinding roar of rock drowned out the report of the gun.
The cloaked figure threw up a hand, batting aside the collapsing stone. The other hand drew and ignited the crimson blades of the saber, spinning and whirling as it deflected every shot. Quentin swore without heat, staring wide-eyed at the display even as he kept firing. On his best day, he might have been able to do the same. Maybe.
And then invisible arms tore the blaster from his fingers and dragged him through the air. He bounced along the stone walls, then slammed down into the rocky floor before the cloaked figure. Quentin fumbled for his lightsaber, only to watch it tear from his grip and land in the figure's outstretched hand. "The weapon of a Jedi, despite it's appearance," the figure mused, igniting the white blade. "But you are no Jedi."
"The Jedi are all dead," Quentin retorted. "Haven't you heard?"
"That is the rumor, yes," the figure replied, removing it's hood. Quentin stared at the crimson and black tattooed face of the Zabrak, recognizing him from a briefing he'd seen more than two decades earlier. "But the same was said about us, once."
"Darth Maul," Quentin whispered.
"Ah, you know my name." Maul gestured, jerking Quentin into the air with the Force. "And you, who are...". His voice trailed away for a moment. "Quentin Hall, a Jedi of the Order of Shadows." Maul considered him. "What had happened to you, I wonder?"
"What do you want?" Terror surged through his gut like water, but he controlled it. Doily might have stripped him of his connection to the Force, but the mental discipline remained.
"Revenge," Maul replied. "Revenge against my one-time Master."
"Dooku is dead," Quentin replied, looking for a way out. "Anakin Skywalker killed him at..."
"Count Dooku!" Maul's laughter was sharp and bright as a blade. "He was my replacement, Shadow! My Master trained him after he cast me aside on Naboo. As he cast Dooku aside for Vader!"
"Then what..?" Quentin began.
Maul stepped close, the movement slightly jerky. "The Force led me here," he said. "A vision obtained from a united Sith and Jedi holocron, showed me that my revenge was here. A vision of a pale, flickering shadow who would destroy the Emperor."
With a contemptuous flick of his hand, Maul let Quentin collapse to the ground. "A shadow vahdar, to destroy the vahdar of Darth Sideous. But instead, all I find is a crippled wreck." Rage flickered in the yellow-orange eyes of the Sith Lord. "He lied to me. Somehow, my apprentice lied."
Quentin stared up at him, then shuffled into a sitting position. Drawing a deep breath, he centered himself and waited. Would it be quick? Decapitation, perhaps? Or would Maul torture him, first?
Instead, Maul dropped his saber at his feet. "No, Shadow. I will not kill you." Fangs glinted as he smiled unpleasantly. "What could I do to you that is worse than leaving you to live like this." Contemptuously, he turned on his heel and stalked away.
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